First Baptist Church of Silsbee

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the First Baptist Church of Silsbee, up there in Hardin County. Now, most churches start with a building. Maybe a little white clapboard chapel, a borrowed schoolhouse, a friendly neighbor's parlor.

But this congregation, they started with a railroad car. That's right. In 1903, in the newly developed rail and sawmill town of Silsbee, the people who would one day become First Baptist Church gathered themselves together and held their first worship service right there in a railcar.

You have to admire that. The Lord's house on wheels. They kept at it, kept growing, and in 1908 they made it official.

Twelve charter members organized Central Baptist Church at a meeting held in the Masonic Lodge Hall. Twelve people, a borrowed meeting room, and a name. That's a foundation.

Then came 1910, and a couple of things happened that year worth noting. Fred Haney, Ed Roper, and Dr. W.

H. McNeil left Silsbee Baptist Church to become Central Baptist's first deacons. And following a revival that same year, a man by the name of John Henry Kirby, developer and timber baron, donated land and lumber for the first actual church building, set on North 4th Street.

Brother Growe was called as the first pastor and served about two years. The congregation kept growing, as congregations with any life in them tend to do. After 1923, they built a new church over at 5th Street and Avenue G.

New address, same mission. Then came the 1940s, and the pastorate of Brother C. B.

Bass. Now, some eras are just more eventful than others, and this was one of them. In January of 1944, the brotherhood was organized.

Around that same period the church changed its name, the name you still know it by today: First Baptist Church of Silsbee. Brother Coleman Young was called as the first education and music director. And the church acquired the old football field as a future church site.

A pastor who could see down the road a little ways. In September of 1950, Brother R. E.

Barclay was called to be pastor. He would serve nearly thirty years. Thirty years.

That's not a pastorate, that's a commitment. In 1954, the church moved to a new sanctuary on the very site this marker stands. That first Sunday school in the new building drew over eight hundred people.

Eight hundred. For a congregation that started with twelve charter members in a borrowed lodge hall, that's a story worth telling. The church also reached outward.

Good Shepherd Baptist Church was a mission it sponsored in 1947. Pinecrest Baptist followed in 1965. Missionaries in the United States and abroad have received the church's financial support across the years.

In 1978, additional education space was dedicated as the Barclay wing, honoring that long faithful tenure. Then in February of 1999, a new sanctuary was dedicated in a special worship service, where the renovations were committed to be used for God's glory. But East Texas weather doesn't make exceptions for churches.

Hurricane Rita came in 2005 and extensively damaged the facilities. Then Hurricane Ike hit in 2008 and did it again. Both times, repairs were made.

The congregation kept going. From a railcar in 1903 to a storm-tested sanctuary standing today, this church has been, as the marker puts it, a beacon of light in the community. Started with twelve people and a borrowed space.

They were never really moving. They were always arriving.

What the marker says

In 1903, this congregation first worshiped in a railroad car in the newly developed rail and sawmill town of Silsbee. Twelve charter members officially organized Central Baptist Church in 1908 at a meeting in the Masonic Lodge Hall. Fred Haney, Ed Roper and Dr. W. H. Mcneil left Silsbee Baptist Church in 1910 to become Central Baptist’s first deacons. Following a revival the same year, developer and timber Baron John Henry Kirby donated land and lumber for the first church building on North 4th street. Brother Growe, the first called pastor, served about two years. The growing congregation built a new church at 5th Street and Avenue G after 1923. The 1940s pastorate of Brother C. B. Bass saw significant developments, including: organizing the brotherhood in Jan. 1944; changing the name of the church to First Baptist Church of Silsbee; calling the first education and music director, Brother Coleman Young; and acquiring the old football field as a future church site. Brother R. E. Barclay, who served nearly 30 years, was called to be pastor in Sep. 1950. In 1954, the church moved to a new sanctuary on this site, with over 800 attending the first Sunday school in the new building. Both Good Shepherd (1947) and Pinecrest (1965) Baptist Churches were missions sponsored by First Baptist Church. The church has also financially supported missionaries in the U. S. and abroad. The “Barclay wing” was dedicated as additional education space in 1978. A new sanctuary was dedicated in Feb. 1999 with a special worship service in which renovations were dedicated to be used for God’s glory. Hurricanes Rita (2005) and Ike (2008) extensively damaged church facilities, but repairs were made each time. For more than a century, the church has been a beacon of light in the community.