DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the First Baptist Church of Texas City. Now, five. Just five people.
That's where this whole story begins. On March 16, 1905, five Texas City residents gathered together for worship and Bible study — and with the help of the Reverend D.L. Griffith, they founded what would become Texas City's First Baptist Church.
Five folks with a Bible and a determination that something ought to grow here. For that first decade, the Reverend W.C. Ponder served as pastor, and in those early years the congregation didn't have a building to call its own.
Services were held in private homes — someone's parlor, someone's kitchen table pushed back to make room for the faithful. The church moved around, meeting at different sites as the congregation kept on growin', until the early 1950s, when they finally built a sanctuary right here at this very site. But here's the thing about a hundred years on the Texas Gulf Coast — the world doesn't stay gentle with you.
This congregation endured the 1915 hurricane. Let that sit for a second. They lived through the Great Depression, when hardship wasn't just a word but a daily companion.
And then there was 1947 — the Texas City disaster, one of the most catastrophic industrial accidents this state has ever known. That congregation felt every one of those blows. And yet.
Through hardships and hard work — the marker's own words — the church persevered. A hundred years of storms, grief, and rebuilding, and it is still standing, still serving this community through a variety of programs and missions. Five people on a March morning in 1905.
That's a heck of a seed to plant.
What the marker says
On March 16, 1905, five Texas City residents met for worship and Bible study. The Rev. D.L. Griffith assisted them in founding Texas City's First Baptist Church. The Rev. W.C. Ponder served as pastor for the first decade, during which time services were held in private homes. The growing congregation met at different sites until the early 1950s, when it built a sanctuary at this site. During its first 100 years, the congregation endured the 1915 hurricane, the Great Depression and the 1947 Texas City disaster. Through hardships and hard work the church persevered, and today it continues in service to its community through a variety of programs and missions. (2005)