First Baptist Church of Ovilla

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna give it to you straight. Way back in September of 1903, some area residents out around Ovilla got together and organized themselves a Baptist church. Now, that's the kind of thing that sounds simple enough: a few folks, a shared faith, a handshake and a prayer.

But what came next took a little more elbow room. The very next year, the community put up a wooden tabernacle right on Red Oak Creek. Not just for the Baptists, mind you; this was a place for local churches, plural, to gather for regular services and revivals.

The Baptist congregation was right in the thick of it, showing up and worshippin' alongside their neighbors. For years, the records get a little murky on exactly where all the meetin' happened (and the marker's honest enough to admit that), but the congregation kept on keepin' on. Then in 1922, a man named Rev.

Bob Burleson stepped in and became the first full-time pastor the Baptists had ever had out here. First full-time. That's not a small thing.

That's a congregation saying, we're serious, we're staying, and we're growin'. By 1936, they built a proper sanctuary right here at this very site. And over time, they kept addin' to it, piece by piece, facility by facility.

More than a hundred years after that original September gathering in 1903, First Baptist Church of Ovilla is still standing, still serving the community through worship, support, and outreach. Some things, it turns out, are built to last.

What the marker says

Area residents organized a Baptist church in September 1903. The next year, the community built a wooden tabernacle on Red Oak Creek for use by local churches, including the Baptist congregation, which participated in regular services and revivals. In 1922, the Rev. Bob Burleson became the first full-time pastor for the Baptists. Records are unclear about other early meeting spaces, but in 1936 the congregation built a sanctuary at this site, adding other facilities over time. More than 100 years after its initial organization, First Baptist still serves the community through worship, support and outreach. (2005)