First Baptist Church of Kilgore

Duane's take

The way I tell it, I'm drawing straight from the official marker for the First Baptist Church of Kilgore, out here in Gregg County. You ready? Let's go.

October 11, 1902. Five people walked into a meeting and walked out with a church. That's it.

That's the whole founding right there. Five charter members, no more, no less. Mr. and Mrs.

J. E. Choice, Mr. and Mrs.

J. I. Choice, and Miss Lizzie Clinkscales.

You want to talk about building something from nothing, you start with five people and a conviction. The Reverend P. J.

Vermillion stepped in as that first pastor, and the Missionary Baptist Church of Kilgore was open for business. Now, for a few years they made do. A small village congregation, finding their way.

Then in 1906, during the pastorate of the Reverend J. A. Lee, they built their first sanctuary.

A real building. Their own walls, their own roof. And that little church did its job faithfully, serving that small community for nearly thirty years.

Nearly thirty years. And then the ground beneath Kilgore started giving up its secrets. The oil boom of the 1930s hit this town like a wave nobody saw coming.

The population of Kilgore shot up, and right along with it, the membership of First Baptist swelled. That original building, sitting at South Martin and Main streets, was sold in 1931. Suddenly a congregation that had been worshipping in one spot for decades found itself without a home.

So they did what communities do when they have to. They gathered in each other's homes. They met in public buildings.

They kept the Sunday School going, kept the services going, kept the whole thing alive in borrowed spaces. And in 1933, the new brick structure at this very site was completed. They had a home again.

A real one, built for the congregation they had become, not the small village gathering they once were. Through all of it, the First Baptist Church of Kilgore never turned inward. Home missions, foreign missions, helping form several other local Baptist fellowships in this community.

They weren't just tending their own garden. They were planting seeds all over the county. Five people in 1902.

That's where it started. Five people and a name and a purpose. What they built out of that, over the decades, is the kind of story a Texas town carries with it like a deed in the county records.

It doesn't shout. It just holds.

What the marker says

On October 11, 1902, the five charter members of this congregation met and formed the Missionary Baptist Church of Kilgore. They were Mr. and Mrs. J. E. Choice, Mr. and Mrs. J. I. Choice, and Miss Lizzie Clinkscales. The Rev. P. J. Vermillion served as first pastor. The church's first sanctuary was constructed in 1906, during the pastorate of the rev. J. A. Lee. It served the small village congregation for nearly 30 years, until the Kilgore oil boom of the 1930s increased tremendously both the population of the town and the membership of the First Baptist Church. The original church building, located at South Martin and Main streets, was sold in 1931. The congregation met for worship services and Sunday School in the homes of its members and in various public buildings until a new brick structure was completed at this site in 1933. throughout its history the First Baptist Church of Kilgore has actively supported home and foreign missions, assisting in the formation of several other local Baptist fellowships. As an integral part of this community, the congregation has grown and developed to provide service and leadership for the changing needs of the people of Kilgore. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986