First Baptist Church of Sunnyvale

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'll tell it to you. On the third of July, 1904, one day before Independence Day, which feels right for a founding, thirteen souls gathered together and chartered a church. They called it New Hope Baptist Church, and they did it under the direction of a man named Dr.

James B. Gambrell, who carried some serious institutional weight: he was associated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the First Baptist Church of Dallas. Thirteen members.

That number never quite loses its echo, does it. The Rev. S.W.

Kendrick stepped up as the first pastor, and in those early days, services were held just once a month. Once a month, which meant when Sunday came around, you showed up. Three years later, in 1907, the congregation had grown enough to dedicate their very first sanctuary.

It stood northwest of where that marker is today, just a little ways off from where the story eventually lands. Now here's where the decades start doin' what decades do. The church kept growin', the community kept growin', and by 1953, the New Hope residents joined with other nearby communities to incorporate as the City of Sunnyvale.

A whole city, rising up around a congregation that started with thirteen people and a once-a-month preacher. Thirteen years after that incorporation, in 1966, the church changed its name to reflect its place in the community, as the marker puts it. New Hope had become something bigger than hope.

It had become a place. First Baptist Church of Sunnyvale. And then in 1978, the church moved to the very site where that marker stands, where it has continued expanding its programs and facilities ever since.

One July afternoon in 1904, thirteen members and a borrowed Sunday once a month. That's your foundation. Everything else (the sanctuary, the city, the name, the new home) that's just what happens when you don't quit.

What the marker says

On July 3, 1904, New Hope Baptist Church chartered with thirteen members under the direction of Dr. James B. Gambrell, who was associated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the First Baptist Church of Dallas. The Rev. S.W. Kendrick served as the first pastor, with services held once a month. In 1907, members dedicated their first sanctuary, located northwest of this site. The church grew, and in 1953, New Hope residents joined with other nearby communities to incorporate as the City of Sunnyvale. The church's name changed in 1966 to reflect its place in the community. In 1978, the church moved to this site, where it continues to expand its programs and facilities. (2005)