First Baptist Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Picture a grassy field in Williamson County, 1883. No walls, no roof, just a tent and the voice of a young Black evangelist named Dr.

L. Benjamin Toliver. He came with a revival, and whatever happened under that canvas, it took root.

Three years later, in 1886, Dr. Toliver made it official, organizing what he called Mt. Aria Baptist Church.

That same year, work began on a permanent sanctuary. They would not see it finished until 1904, but they kept building. Some things worth having take time.

Now here's where the story starts to stretch in ways that would strain credibility if it weren't all true. The first two seated pastors of that church, the Reverend A. L.

Boone and Dr. L. K.

Williams, went on to become, respectively, secretary and president of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. The first two. You'd think a congregation would brag about that until the end of days, and they'd be entitled.

But then look at the deacons. Among the notable ones, the marker names Bill Pickett, the legendary rodeo bulldogger himself, and a man named Samuel Houston Papa Hennington, Sr., who served as deacon for sixty-four years. Sixty-four years.

That is not a tenure, that is a calling. Come 1940, the Reverend L. E.

Brown led the congregation through a remodeling of the sanctuary and a name change, and Mt. Aria Baptist Church became First Baptist Church, the name it carries to this day. The marker closes with something simple and true: the church has experienced untold blessings from God and spiritually served many of his faithful disciples.

Started with a tent in a field. Some foundations, it turns out, don't need mortar.

What the marker says

In 1883, young black evangelist Dr. L. Benjamin Toliver held a tent revival in a grassy field at this site. In 1886, Dr. Toliver officially organized Mt. Aria Baptist Church. Work on a permanent sanctuary began that year and was completed in 1904. The first two seated pastors, the Rev. A. L. Boone and Dr. L. K. Williams, were later secretary and president, respectively, of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. Notable deacons include legendary rodeo bulldogger Bill Pickett, and Samuel Houston "Papa" Hennington, Sr., who served for 64 years. In 1940, Rev. L. E. Brown led remodeling of the sanctuary and a name change to First Baptist Church. The church has experienced untold blessings from God and spiritually served many of his faithful disciples.