DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the First Baptist Church of Paris, up in Lamar County. Now, 1854 is where this story begins — and like most good Texas stories, it starts small. The Rev.
Willis M. Pickett and six charter members. That's it.
Seven people and a conviction, coming together to form the Union Baptist Church of Paris. Seven people who had no idea what they were planting. The church stayed right where it started — never picked up and moved, never chased a better corner of town.
It just grew. Dramatically, the marker says, and I believe it. Out of that original Union Baptist Church rose what would become First Baptist Church of Paris, and with it came a string of prominent Baptist leaders who took the pulpit over the years.
But one name in particular deserves a long look. The Rev. Robert Cooke Buckner.
While he was pastoring in Paris, something stirred in him — an interest in outreach to orphans. That interest, developed right there in Paris, led to what became Buckner Baptist Benevolences. That's not a small thing.
That's a man sitting in a Paris church, feeling called toward something bigger, and following it all the way through. He also led the congregation to create an early Sunday School program, so the man wasn't exactly resting between ideas. Now, the church had built itself a proper home by 1895.
A real building. Something to point to. And then came 1916.
The fire that swept through Paris that year took it. Razed it. The 1895 building — gone.
That's the kind of sentence that lands heavy, and it should. A congregation watches decades of gathered effort burn, and then it has to decide what it is. Turns out, First Baptist Church of Paris already knew the answer to that question.
They kept going. They've carried a distinguished record of service in local and foreign missions. They've sponsored the formation of several other churches — planting new congregations the way Rev.
Pickett and those six members once planted this one. Seven people in 1854. And look at the shadow they cast.
What the marker says
In 1854, the Rev. Willis M. Pickett and six charter members formed the Union Baptist Church of Paris. Remaining in its original location, the church grew dramatically, eventually becoming First Baptist Church. Many prominent Baptist leaders have pastored the church, including the Rev. Robert Cooke Buckner, who, while at Paris, developed interests in outreach to orphans that led to Buckner Baptist Benevolences. He also led the church to create an early Sunday School program. The 1895 church building was razed in the 1916 fire that swept through Paris. The congregation has a distinguished record of service in local and foreign missions, and has sponsored the formation of several churches. (2004)