DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it — the story of the First Baptist Church of Josephine, Collin County, Texas. Now settle in, because this congregation didn't just build a church. They built one, then another, then another — and they saved the best pieces of every one along the way.
In 1888, Mr. and Mrs. Sam Tarrant went out and recruited several local families to sit down with Baptist Missionary Reverend Petty over at the Reed's Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church school house. They had a mission: organize a Baptist congregation right there in Josephine.
And they did it. W. M.
Wolfe stepped up as the church's first pastor, and the work was underway. That same summer, a man named Henry Money — and that is a name worth pausing on — Henry Money conducted a revival meeting under a brush arbor. Out in the open air, nothing but branches overhead and faith underneath, and that meeting pulled in twenty-seven new members.
Twenty-seven souls drawn in under a brush arbor. For several years after that, the congregation kept meeting at the school house. It wasn't grand, but it was theirs.
Then around 1890, they built themselves a proper wooden sanctuary — vestibule, bell tower, the whole arrangement. A real church standing on Josephine ground. They weren't done.
By 1911, Reverend Money — yes, that same Henry Money from the brush arbor revival — dedicated the congregation's brand-new three-story, brick-clad sanctuary. Three stories. In Josephine, Texas.
That new building had curved wooden pews with carvings on the ends, dark wood walls, and stained glass windows catching whatever light the Texas sky was willing to offer that day. Then came the twenties, and the church kept growin'. An annex went up.
A tabernacle went up — dirt floor and all — and in that tabernacle they held two-week-long revival meetings with piano accompaniment. Two full weeks of singing and preaching on a dirt floor, and people came. Through all of it, one constant: Ella Smith at the organ.
Ella Smith served as the church organist for more than seventy years. Let that settle for a moment. More than seventy years of Ella Smith's hands on those keys.
In the nineteen thirties and forties, the Josephine churches worked out a gentlemen's agreement of sorts — they held services on alternating Sundays so congregants could visit each other's churches after Sunday school. Community built right into the calendar. And when the Josephine school was being rebuilt during the nineteen thirty-six to thirty-seven school year, the church opened its doors and provided temporary high school classrooms.
Then on July 12, 1964, the congregation dedicated yet another new sanctuary, this one designed by Dallas architect Adam Bliss. A brick parsonage followed in 1966, rounding out the complex. Now here's the thing that lands the whole story — when they moved on to each new building, they didn't just leave the old ones behind.
The church bell from that first wooden sanctuary, the stained glass windows from the 1911 brick church — they were preserved and put on display right there on the lawn. A congregation that kept building forward, and never once forgot where it had been.
What the marker says
In 1888, Mr. And Mrs. Sam Tarrant recruited several local families to meet with Baptist Missionary Rev. Petty at the Reed's chapel Methodist Episcopal Church school house to organize a Baptist congregation. W.M. Wolfe served as the church's first pastor. That summer, Henry Money conducted a revival meeting under a brush arbor that attracted 27 new members. For several years, church services were conducted at the school house. Around 1890, the congregation built a wooden sanctuary with a vestibule and bell tower. In 1911, Rev. Money dedicated the congregation's new three-story, brick-clad sanctuary. The new sanctuary had curved wooden pews with end carvings, dark wood walls and stained glass windows. In the 1920s, an annex and a tabernacle were added to the church complex. The dirt-floor tabernacle hosted two-week long revival meetings, complete with piano accompaniment. Ella Smith served as the church organist for more than seventy years. In the 1930s and 1940s, Josephine Churches held services on alternative Sundays, which allowed congregants to visit each other's churches after Sunday school. The church provided temporary high school classrooms in the 1936-37 school year when the Josephine school was rebuilt. On July 12, 1964, the congregation dedicated its new sanctuary, designed by Dallas architect Adam Bliss. A brick parsonage was added in 1966. The church bell from the first church and the stained glass windows from the 1911 church were preserved in a display on the lawn.