DUANE
Duane's take
Well, the marker's the one that put me on this road, and here's how I tell it. Back in the early days of White Deer up in Carson County, the Baptists didn't even have a roof to call their own. They were borrowing time and space from the Presbyterians — meeting twice a month, sharing a Union Sunday School, getting along just fine as neighbors do when the land is wide and the congregation is small.
But a borrowed house of worship will only hold a dream so long before somebody decides it's time to build one of their own. That day came on June the sixteenth, 1912. Several brothers and sisters gathered together, led by Bro.
J. J. Baird and S.
P. Clements, missionaries of the Palo Duro Association, and they organized the White Deer Missionary Baptist Church right there on the Texas Panhandle. They adopted the Articles of Faith and the Church Covenant, duly and properly, the way people do when they mean for a thing to last.
Seven members came in by letters of transfer. Four came by statement. And seven more — seven souls — came by experience, ready for baptism.
That is a congregation building itself from scratch, piece by piece, person by person. Bro. Baird stayed on as part-time pastor through that first year, and H.
P. Bobbitt and J. D.
Edgar were elected the very first deacons. Now, for years they kept at it without a building of their own, and then on November the twenty-third, 1919, the Baptist Women's Missionary Society organized, and with it came something powerful — a building fund. The women and the church set their eyes on a sanctuary.
Mr. and Mrs. J. A.
Hughes donated four lots for the site, and Bro. K. F.
Keller led that congregation right through the doors of their new sanctuary in May of 1921. And what a building it was — Mission Revival style, red brick veneer, concrete detailing, entry stairs rising up over a raised basement. A structure that looked like it intended to stay.
They weren't finished yet, though. By 1926, through gifts and through the sale of wheat and cotton crops — the Panhandle providing in the way the Panhandle does — the church paid off every dollar of its building debt and turned its attention to a parsonage. Around 1930, the name changed to First Baptist Church of White Deer, and by 1935 the congregation had grown to three hundred and seventy-seven members, drawing folks in from the surrounding communities across that wide open country.
Then came June the sixth, 1951. A tornado. It tore through White Deer — destroyed homes, destroyed schools — and it came narrowly, terrifyingly close to that red brick church on its raised basement.
But many citizens had already taken shelter down in that basement, and the building held. The very next year, with the schools gone, students attended classes in city churches, and the Baptist Church basement served double duty as the school cafeteria. That building wasn't just a church anymore.
It never really had been just a church. When a new sanctuary was completed in 1959, the historic building became the education wing, and it has gone right on hosting school functions and community gatherings ever since. A congregation that started by borrowing space from their neighbors ended up being the place the whole town turned to when things got hard.
Recorded as a Texas Historic Landmark in 2011 — and every bit of it earned.
What the marker says
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF WHITE DEER BAPTISTS IN WHITE DEER FIRST MET IN THE PRESBYTERIANS’ HOUSE OF WORSHIP, MEETING TWICE A MONTH AND SHARING A UNION SUNDAY SCHOOL. ON JUN. 16, 1912, SEVERAL BROTHERS AND SISTERS MET TO ORGANIZE A MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH, LED BY BRO. J. J. BAIRD AND S. P. CLEMENTS, MISSIONARIES OF THE PALO DURO ASSOCIATION. THE ARTICLES OF FAITH AND CHURCH COVENANT WERE DULY ADOPTED FOR WHITE DEER MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH. SEVEN MEMBERS PRESENTED LETTERS OF TRANSFER, FOUR CAME BY STATEMENT AND SEVEN WERE RECEIVED BY EXPERIENCE FOR BAPTISM. BRO. BAIRD WAS PART-TIME PASTOR FOR THE FIRST YEAR, WITH H. P. BOBBITT AND J. D. EDGAR ELECTED THE FIRST DEACONS. ON NOV. 23, 1919, THE BAPTIST WOMEN’S MISSIONARY SOCIETY ORGANIZED AND THE CHURCH STARTED A BUILDING FUND FOR THEIR OWN SANCTUARY. MR. AND MRS. J. A. HUGHES DONATED FOUR LOTS FOR THE SITE, AND BRO. K. F. KELLER LED THE CHURCH INTO THEIR NEW SANCTUARY IN MAY 1921. THE MISSION REVIVAL-STYLE BUILDING FEATURES A RED BRICK VENEER AND CONCRETE DETAILING AND ENTRY STAIRS OVER A RAISED BASEMENT. BY 1926, THROUGH GIFTS AND SALES OF WHEAT AND COTTON CROPS, THE CHURCH PAID OFF ITS BUILDING DEBT AND STARTED WORK ON A PARSONAGE. IN ABOUT 1930 THE NAME CHANGED TO FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF WHITE DEER. BY 1935, THE 377 MEMBERS INCLUDED SEVERAL FROM SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES. MANY CITIZENS SOUGHT SHELTER IN THE BASEMENT DURING A JUN. 6, 1951 TORNADO WHICH DESTROYED HOMES AND SCHOOLS AND NARROWLY MISSED THE CHURCH. THE NEXT YEAR, STUDENTS ATTENDED CLASSES IN CITY CHURCHES; THE BAPTIST CHURCH BASEMENT WAS ALSO THE SCHOOL CAFETERIA. WHEN A NEW SANCTUARY WAS COMPLETED IN 1959, THE HISTORIC CHURCH BECAME THE EDUCATION BUILDING. THIS FACILITY HAS ALSO HOSTED COUNTLESS SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY FUNCTIONS. THE CHURCH CONTINUES TO SERVE ITS NEIGHBORS THROUGH MISSION WORK, CHARITY AND OUTREACH. RECORDED TEXAS HISTORIC LANDMARK – 2011