DUANE
Duane's take
Here's the story as the official marker tells it — and this one's got more layers than a West Texas sky before a storm. Now picture 1891. Lubbock is barely a smudge on the map, and a handful of faithful souls decide it's time to organize a church.
The First Baptist Church of Lubbock. Good idea. One small problem: they didn't exactly have a building.
So where did this congregation hold services? The county jail. That's right.
Week after week, the First Baptist Church of Lubbock met at the county jail. Whether the accommodations inspired repentance or simply patience, the marker doesn't say — but they kept coming back. Their first pastor was the Reverend J.
R. Miller, and in those early years the congregation leaned on two pillars of leadership: the Baptist Women's Missionary Society and the Board of Deacons. And how did they fund their charitable projects?
Not with a capital campaign. Not with a pledge drive. With box suppers, ice cream parties, and quilting bees.
There's something quietly extraordinary about that — a community stitching itself together, one quilt at a time. They finally got a proper church building in 1901, up at 13th Street and Avenue G. Ten years of worshipin' at the jail, and then a house of their own.
Then in 1905, they called their first full-time pastor — the Reverend B. F. Dixon.
Under his tenure, the first parsonage was built, and a baptistry was added to the church building. The congregation was putting down roots. Then 1925 rolled around, and Texas Technological College opened its doors.
Membership increased. That's the marker's way of saying the town was growing up around this church, and the church was growing right along with it. World War II brought another chapter.
Personnel from Lubbock Army Air Field — later Reese Air Force Base — and from South Plains Army Air Field were welcomed into the congregation. In the middle of a world at war, there was a place that said: come in, you're welcome here. By 1951, the congregation had moved to its present location on Broadway and Avenue V.
From the county jail to a corner on Broadway — sixty years of Sundays. And the work kept expanding. Missions.
Radio and television programs. A deaf ministry. A child development center.
Oriental and Spanish language ministries. Active involvement with the Southern Baptist Convention. This is a congregation that never quite stopped growing into something larger than itself.
Organized in 1891. Still standing in 1991 when this marker was placed. One hundred years, and the story of First Baptist Church of Lubbock is really the story of a community that started with nothing but faith — and kept building.
What the marker says
Organized in 1891, the First Baptist Church congregation met at the county jail until 1901, when a small church building was built at 13th Street and Avenue G. The church's first pastor was the Rev. J. R. Miller. The Baptist Women's Missionary Society and the Board of Deacons provided leadership during the congregation's early years. Charitable projects were funded by box suppers, ice cream parties, and quilting bees. The congregation called its first full-time pastor, the Rev. B. F. Dixon, in 1905. During his tenure the first parsonage was built and a baptistry was added to the church building. Membership increased in 1925 when Texas Technological College (now Texas Tech University) opened. Personnel from Lubbock Army Air Field (later Reese Air Force Base) and South Plains Army Air Field were welcomed to the church during World War II. By 1951 the congregation worshiped at the present location on Broadway and Avenue V. First Baptist Church outreach activities have included missions, radio and television programs, a deaf ministry, a child development center, Oriental and Spanish language ministries, and active involvement with the Southern Baptist Convention. 1991