First Baptist Church of Poynor

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the First Baptist Church of Poynor, out in Henderson County. Pull up a chair, because this one starts with a railroad and ends with a legacy that outlasted just about everyone who laid the first timber. The Texas and New Orleans Railroad reached the area in 1901, and when a railroad comes through, it doesn't just bring passengers.

It brings a town. The railroad laid out Poynor right then and there, and the post office opened the very next year. The place started growing almost before the ink was dry.

Now, early residents had to worship somewhere, and so they gathered in a Union church building, two congregations sharing the same roof. One leaned Baptist, one leaned Church of Christ. They were neighborly about it, but there's something in a community that eventually wants its own home.

So on August 21, 1904, seven Poynor residents sat down together and organized what began as a Missionary Baptist congregation. Seven people. That's it.

You could fit them in a parlor. Elder W.W. Hall led that new church, and James P.

Thrasher stepped up as the first church clerk, a position he would hold for many years. Not a flash in the pan, James P. Thrasher.

The man was a fixture. For a good while, pastors came and preached once a month. Once a month.

The congregation made that work, and they made it work for a long time, until 1925, when they added a second service. Growth tends to demand more of you. And they were building something real.

In 1923, congregation members purchased the land where the church building stood. Bought the ground right out from under their own feet, so to speak, and made it theirs. More land came after that, new facilities over the following decades, the whole thing expanding piece by piece the way a living thing does.

Then Hunt Oil Company opened a gas plant nearby, and that did something churches in small towns are always hoping for. It encouraged younger members to stay in the community. When the young folks stick around, a congregation has a future.

The membership that filled those pews wasn't just sitting quietly on Sundays, either. Many of them were local educators, and they carried that teaching spirit right into religious education, offered for all ages. Others stepped into civic life as mayors, city council members, postmistresses.

The church and the town, woven together. They put on holiday programs for the whole community, too. Not just for their own.

For everybody. And then the centennial arrived. A hundred years on from those seven souls who gathered on August 21, 1904, and the First Baptist Church of Poynor was still growing.

Funds from the estate of Mae Thrasher Hamilton, who died in 1991, helped the church expand its amenities and its programs, reaching both its members and the larger community around it. Seven people in 1904. A railroad town that might have faded like so many others.

And yet here stands a church, at a hundred years old, still building. That's not an accident. That's a congregation.

What the marker says

The Texas & New Orleans Railroad laid out the town of Poynor when it reached the area in 1901. The post office opened the following year, and the town immediately began to grow. Early residents met in a Union church building for worship services, and two congregations soon formed, one Baptist and one Church of Christ. Seven Poynor residents met on August 21, 1904 to organize what began as a Missionary Baptist congregation. Elder W.W. Hall led the new church, and James P. Thrasher served as the first church clerk, a position he held for many years. Church pastors preached once a month until 1925, when the congregation added a second service. In 1923, congregation members purchased the land where the church building stood and continued to expand with additional land and new facilities over the next decades. The church's membership increased after Hunt Oil Company opened a gas plant nearby, encouraging younger members to stay in the community. Congregants have been active within both the church and Poynor. Many members were local educators, and their work carried over into religious education, which is offered for all ages. Others were community leaders and officials, including mayors, city council members and postmistresses. First Baptist Church has also provided holiday programs for the community. At its centennial, Poynor's First Baptist Church continued to grow, using funds from the estate of Mae Thrasher Hamilton (d. 1991) to further expand its amenities, as well as its programs, which support both its members and the larger community. (2004)