First Baptist Church of Lyford

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Somewhere around 1909, the Baptists of Lyford didn't yet have a church, a building, or even a regular preacher in town. What they had was the Rev.

S. F. Marsh, and they had him once a month.

He'd make that trip from Harlingen, step off, preach his sermon, and head back. One Sunday a month. That was the arrangement, and apparently it was enough to keep the fire going.

By 1911, Lyford's Baptists decided they were ready to make it official. They founded the First Baptist Church of Lyford, and Marsh became the first pastor. A congregation with roots, a name, and a man to lead it.

Not bad for a community that had been borrowing other people's buildings just to hold a service. And that's exactly what they kept doing. For more than a decade, the congregation met wherever the community would have them, in shared spaces, common halls, whatever was available.

Then came 1923. Members of the Piper family donated the land, and on that ground the congregation built their first church. Their own walls, their own roof, a place that belonged to them.

Now, a church needs more than a building. It needs the sacraments. And for baptisms, this congregation did what people out on the Texas plain have always done when you work with what you've got.

They used a stock tank on a local farm. Out in the open, on somebody's land, they performed baptisms in that tank all the way until 1937. There is something about that image that tells you everything about this congregation.

And they didn't stop at their own four walls, either. The First Baptist Church of Lyford went on to establish Spanish-speaking Baptist churches in the area, carrying their mission outward into the community around them. One preacher, one trip a month from Harlingen, and look what grew from it.

What the marker says

Lyford's Baptists began meeting for worship services about 1909, when the Rev. S. F. Marsh started traveling from Harlingen once a month to preach. Lyford Baptists founded the First Baptist Church in 1911, and Marsh became the First Pastor. The congregation met in community buildings until 1923, when the first church was built upon land donated by members of the Piper family. Baptisms were performed in a stock tank on a local farm until 1937. The congregation has been active in local mission efforts by establishing Spanish-speaking Baptist churches in the area. (1991)