Fourth Missionary Baptist Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, every great institution has to start somewhere, and this one started with one man and a name: Watts Chapel. The year was 1877, and the Reverend Henry Watts — a native of South Carolina — had just arrived in Houston.

Same year he arrived, same year he got to work. With the help of fellow Houston ministers and deacons, he secured a place of worship on Commerce Street. That's not a slow start.

That's a man who knew exactly why he'd come. Six years on, in 1883, Reverend Watts and the church trustees purchased land and moved the congregation to West Broadway. And the following year — 1884 — they gave the church its enduring name: Fourth Missionary Baptist Church.

A new address, a new name, and a community already putting down roots. But here's the thing about roots — they get tested. The church moved again, this time to the corner of Dowling and Lamar, and what happened next was the kind of thing that breaks lesser congregations.

A storm destroyed their building in 1900. They rebuilt. Then a fire came in 1910.

They rebuilt again. Twice knocked down, twice they rose. You want to know the character of a church, watch what it does after the storm and after the fire.

Under the leadership of the Reverend Alex H. Branch, the church moved once more in 1927. And when Reverend Branch passed away in 1932, the members turned to his son — Elridge Stanley Branch — and elected him pastor.

Under Reverend Dr. E.S. Branch's leadership, Fourth Missionary Baptist Church moved to this very location in 1946, and it was during his pastorate that the church grew into what the marker calls a leading Christian institution.

Now, when people talk about a church being a pillar of the community, sometimes that's just something nice you say. Here, they mean it in the most practical, roll-up-your-sleeves sense of the word. A kindergarten, established in 1941.

A well baby clinic. Food clinics. Programs to help the needy during Christmas.

A low-income housing complex. These aren't ceremonies — these are people showing up for Houston, year after year. And the reach of this congregation didn't stop at Houston's city limits.

They worked closely with a Baptist church in Panama. They organized Bella Vista Church on East 36th Street right there in Houston. They ministered in Jamaica, Haiti, Trinidad, and the Philippines.

The Missionary Baptist General Convention of Texas has been hosted here multiple times. Then came 1968 — and this moment deserves a beat of quiet before it lands. Fourth Missionary Baptist Church became the first Black church to join the Union Baptist Association.

The marker calls it an important step in the integration of churches in the state of Texas. That's not a footnote. That's a congregation that had already survived storms and fire and decades of hard work, and then stepped forward to change the shape of something much larger than itself.

From Watts Chapel in 1877 to here — through every move, every rebuilding, every generation handing the work to the next — Fourth Missionary Baptist Church has been a spiritual and social leader in Houston. Some institutions just occupy a corner. This one has earned it.

What the marker says

Organized as Watts Chapel in 1877, Fourth Missionary Baptist Church was established by the Rev. Henry Watts, a native of South Carolina. Watts arrived in Houston that same year, and with the help of fellow Houston ministers and deacons, secured a place of worship on Commerce Street. In 1883, he and church trustees purchased land and moved the church to West Broadway, and the congregation changed its name to Fourth Missionary Baptist Church in 1884. The church moved again to a location at the corner of Dowling and Lamar, rebuilding after a storm destroyed their building in 1900, and again after a fire in 1910. Under the leadership of the Rev. Alex H. Branch, the church moved in 1927. When the Rev. Branch passed away in 1932, members elected his son, Elridge Stanley Branch, as pastor. During the Rev. Dr. E.S. Branch's pastorate, Fourth Missionary Baptist Church moved here (1946) and attained its status as a leading Christian institution. Members have helped Houston residents in a variety of ways, including a kindergarden (1941), well baby clinic, food clinics, programs to help the needy during Christmas and a low-income housing complex. The church has also focused on missions, working closely with a Baptist church in Panama, organizing Bella Vista Church on East 36th Street in Houston and ministering in Jamaica, Haiti, Trinidad and the Philippines. The church has hosted the Missionary Baptist General Convention of Texas several times and in 1968 became the first black church to join the Union Baptist Association, an important step in the integration of churches in the state. Today, Fourth Missionary Baptist Church continues as a vital spiritual and social leader in Houston. (2007)