First Baptist Church of Midland

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the First Baptist Church of Midland. Now settle in, because this is a story about a town and a church that grew up together, out here in the West Texas scrubland where a lot of folks said nothing much would take root. Midland was barely off the ground in 1885 when the Baptists of the region looked around and decided they weren't going to wait for the dust to settle.

Baptists from Pecos, Big Spring, and Midland all sat down together and hammered out an agreement to hire one man, the Reverend S.B. Callaway, to serve all three congregations at once. One preacher, three towns, a whole lot of West Texas between them.

Now that right there tells you something about the determination of the people involved. Under Reverend Callaway's leadership, a group organized this church in 1886, and they didn't stop at organizing. They erected a building shortly afterwards.

A real, physical place of worship rising up out of the caliche and the prairie wind. Over the years, the church expanded, and when it outgrew what it had, it moved. Then it moved again.

Twice in all, chasing its own growing membership across the city. And then came the years following World War II, when Midland's petroleum industry started pulling the region forward with serious force. The city developed in ways that turned heads, and the church grew right alongside it, mirroring that expansion step for step.

Through all of it, the booms and the moves and the decades stacking up since 1885, the First Baptist Church of Midland has held its place as a spiritual and community leader. Some things, it turns out, do take root out here. Deep root.

What the marker says

The First Baptist Church of Midland began serving the city shortly after Midland's founding in 1885. That year, Baptists from Pecos, Big Spring and Midland agreed to hire the Rev. S.B. Callaway to serve the three congregations. Under his leadership, a group organized this church in 1886, erecting a building shortly afterwards. Over the years, the church expanded and moved twice to accommodate growing membership. During the years following World War II, church growth mirrored Midland's impressive city development due to the region's expanding petroleum industry. Through all this time, the church has been a spiritual and community leader, a position it continues to hold today. (2006)