First Baptist Church of Renner

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the First Baptist Church of Renner, out in Dallas County. Now, every congregation has to start somewhere, and the Renner Baptists started the way a lot of things started in Texas: with what they had. In 1890, they organized, and for eight years they met in the school building.

No steeple, no pews, no baptistery. Just faithful people and a borrowed room. And the names on that charter roll (you want to hear a community written down in ink?): B.F. and Kate E.

Binkley. Elizabeth H., J.J., Mary A., and R.F. Butler.

Mary E. and P.W. Collier. Mary L.

Dickerson. George B., J.P., and Nancy E. Jennings.

Mary A. McLary. Mary E.

Meason. Rob C. and Margaret A. Reynolds.

Families. Neighbors. The kind of people who showed up and kept showing up.

By 1897, they'd made up their minds. The congregation bought a lot and erected a church; their own, at last. Something to point to and say: that's ours.

Then in 1925, the present structure went up, giving the fellowship a building solid enough to outlast just about everything else in Renner. And it did. The marker calls it the only surviving church in Renner, a pioneer fellowship, still a focal point in the community.

But here's where the story turns. Communities change, and a congregation that had been rooted in one spot for nearly ninety years decided to move with the current. In December of 1979, the First Baptist Church of Renner purchased new property and moved its place of worship to a new location.

Come April 1980, it took a new name too: Preston Highlands Baptist Church. And on October 12, 1980, the first building at that new location was dedicated. From a borrowed schoolroom in 1890 to a dedication Sunday in 1980, ninety years of the same fellowship, just keeping pace with the people it was there to serve.

That's not decline. That's endurance with a little Texas pragmatism built right in.

What the marker says

Renner Baptists organized in 1890 and met in the school building for eight years. Charter members were: B.F. and Kate E. Binkley; Elizabeth H., J.J., Mary A., and R.F. Butler; Mary E. and P.W. Collier; Mary L. Dickerson; George B., J.P. and Nancy E. Jennings; Mary A. McLary; Mary E. Meason; Rob C. and Margaret A. Reynolds. In 1897, the congregation bought this lot and erected a church. The present structure was built in 1925. The only surviving church in Renner, this pioneer fellowship remains a focal point in the community. (1976) 1980 supplemental plate: To better serve a changing community, the congregation of the First Baptist Church of Renner purchased this property in December 1979 and moved its place of worship to this location. The church became Preston Highlands Baptist Church in April 1980, with the first building dedicated on October 12, 1980.