DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the First Baptist Church of Pecos City, out in Reeves County. Now, if you want to talk about a man who packed a whole lot of living into one life, let's start with the Reverend Sumner Battle Callaway. Born in 1852, passed from this world in 1952 — you let those two numbers sit side by side for a moment.
He had come out of Georgia, and before he ever set foot in a pulpit, he had been the private secretary to Governor Richard Hubbard and a practicing lawyer. Not a bad resume before you even get to the ministry. But in 1885, out there in Pecos City, Callaway felt called to do something different.
He led the organization of a Baptist church and stepped in as its very first pastor. Eight charter members stood with him at the beginning — Callaway himself, A. M.
Walthall, Sallie Harris Walthall, and a Mrs. Colvin among them. Eight souls, out on the west Texas frontier, deciding this place needed a church.
They got their first building completed in 1887. And the congregation kept growing. By 1910, under the pastorate of the Reverend J.
B. Cole — born 1858, died 1947 — they built themselves a larger sanctuary. Because that's what a living congregation does: it outgrows its walls.
From 1886 until 1902, the church ran with the Sweetwater Baptist Association. Then in 1902, something worth noting happened right there in Pecos City — the El Paso association was organized on those very grounds. The church later became part of the Pecos Valley association, movin' with the times and the territory.
Over the years, a number of prominent pastors served this fellowship. Among them was the Reverend L. R.
Millican, who preached on the west Texas frontier for more than fifty years. Fifty years of frontier preaching. That's not a career, that's a calling answered loud and long.
And through all of it — the associations, the sanctuaries, the pastors — the First Baptist Church of Pecos City kept its eyes beyond its own walls, staying active in home and foreign missionary work and putting a great emphasis on community service. Eight charter members. One determined man who used to work for a governor.
And a church that's been reachin' outward ever since.
What the marker says
The Rev. Sumner Battle Callaway (1852-1952) led the organization of this Baptist church in 1885 and served as its first pastor. Callaway had come to Texas from Georgia and had been Gov. Richard Hubbard's private secretary and a lawyer before entering the ministry. The eight charter members included Callaway, A. M. and Sallie Harris Walthall, and Mrs. Colvin. The congregation's first church building was completed in 1887. A larger sanctuary was built in 1910, during the pastorate of the Rev. J. B. Cole (1858-1947). The First Baptist Church of Pecos City was a member of the Sweetwater Baptist Association from 1886 until 1902, when the El Paso association was organized here. It later became part of the Pecos Valley association. Over the years, the fellowship has been served by a number of prominent pastors, including the Rev. L. R. Millican who preached on the west Texas frontier for more than 50 years. The First Baptist Church of Pecos City has been active in home and foreign missionary work and has placed a great emphasis on community service.