First Baptist Church of Katy

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker for the First Baptist Church of Katy has to say, and friend, this one's got deep roots. November 20, 1898. The Reverend T.

L. Scruggs calls a meeting. Twelve people show up.

Twelve charter members, and right there among them are W. H. Featherston and W.

P. and Hattie A. Morrison, along with seven of their family and relatives. That's nearly the whole room just between two families.

And those two families, the Morrisons and the Featherstons, would do much to support the foundation and growth of what they were calling, at that point, Zion Baptist Church. Now, where did they meet? In the one-room Katy schoolhouse.

Sharing it, mind you, with several other denominations. You want to talk about ecumenical spirit, there it is: Baptists, Methodists, and others, all under the same roof in one little room. And their first pastor, Reverend J.

P. Durham, a circuit minister, came around once a month. Once a month, alternating with the Methodists and the others.

A congregation that had to share both its building and its preacher. That's a humble beginning by any measure. By 1904, the congregation had moved into a building erected by the Katy Methodists.

Still borrowing, still building. Then 1914 rolls around and something shifts. The name changes to Katy Baptist Church, and the congregation erects its own building, at a cost of one thousand three hundred and eighty dollars.

Their own. Finally. The Texas Gulf Coast economy was expanding rapidly in those years, and the Katy Baptist Church grew right along with it.

A masonry building eventually replaced that first worship center, and in 1948 the congregation adopted a new name: First Baptist Church of Katy. Nineteen sixty-seven brought continued growth and a much larger worship center and educational building to go with it. Now here's a line on this church that deserves to be said slowly.

Since 1905, it has been a member of the Southern Baptist Convention, contributing to worldwide missions. And the missions aren't just distant and abstract. There's an annual outreach in Mexico.

And since 1946, this congregation has helped establish twelve mission churches right here in this area. Twelve. That number has a little echo to it, doesn't it, when you remember there were twelve charter members at the start.

By the time the church hit its centennial in 1998, membership had swelled to more than four thousand people. The congregation relocated to a site just south of the original building to mark that hundredth year. And at the new site, they put up a white frame chapel, a deliberate reminder of the first building and the original vision that carried them through.

One little schoolhouse in 1898. Twelve people. One circuit preacher once a month.

And a hundred years later, four thousand members, twelve mission churches, and a white chapel standing as a quiet witness to where it all began.

What the marker says

On November 20, 1898, the Rev. T. L. Scruggs led the first official meeting of what would later become the First Baptist Church of Katy. Among the new congregation's first twelve charter members were W.H. Featherston, W. P. & Hattie A. Morrison and seven of their family and relatives. The Morrison and Featherston families did much to support the foundation and growth of the church, first named Zion Baptist Church. They met in the one-room Katy schoolhouse with several other denominations. The Rev. J. P. Durham, a circuit minister, was called as the first pastor. He visited once a month, alternating with the Methodists and others. In 1904 the congregation began to meet in a building erected by Katy Methodists. The Baptist congregation changed its name to Katy Baptist church in 1914 and erected its own building at a cost of $1,380. The Katy Baptist Church grew quickly with the rapidly expanding economy of the Texas Gulf Coast. A masonry building replaced the first worship center and the name first Baptist Church of Katy was adopted in 1948. Continued growth resulted in the addition of a much larger worship center and educational building in 1967. The church has contributed to worldwide missions as a member of the Southern Baptist Convention since 1905. Direct missions include an annual outreach in Mexico and the establishment of twelve mission churches in this area since 1946. The membership swelled to more than four thousand and the church relocated to a site just south of the original building as it celebrated its centennial in 1998. A white frame chapel was erected at the new site as a reminder of the first building and the original and continuing vision of the church. (2000)