DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Goodwill Missionary Baptist Church, out in Burleson County. Now, let me set the scene for you. The year is 1854, and a man named A.S.
Broaddus is leading a wagon train out of Virginia — a six-month ride, mind you, six months of hard road and open sky — with numerous enslaved people bound for a place near Cooks Point, Texas. Six months. Let that settle in your chest for a moment, because that is a long, long way from home, and none of those souls chose to make the journey.
Time passed. Laws changed. The world shifted, as worlds sometimes do.
And by 1887, many of those same families — now emancipated, now building lives on their own terms — went back to Broaddus. They asked him to help them establish a church of their own. Think about what it took to walk up and make that ask.
The courage of it. The hopefulness of it. Broaddus agreed.
And on November the thirteenth, 1888, a piece of land near Cedar Creek changed hands for the sum of six dollars. Six dollars. That's what the deed said.
What the deed couldn't say was what that ground was really worth to the people who were about to build something on it. Jerry Shorter was called as the first pastor. Bill Waller, Polk Davis, Ephran Jones, and Mason Bridges were ordained as deacons.
A small building went up, and regular services began — joyfully, the marker says, and I believe every word of that. The church didn't stay small. It was rebuilt, not once but several times, growing along with the people inside it.
Around that congregation rose a whole community — a school, a cemetery, a store. Everything a community needs to say we are here, and we intend to stay. And stay they did.
The congregation of Goodwill Missionary Baptist Church is still out there near Cedar Creek, still offering worship, fellowship, and cultural heritage to the community around it. Built on six dollars and a whole lot of faith, and still standing.
What the marker says
In 1854, numerous slaves arrived near Cooks Point, led by A.S. Broaddus on a six-month wagon ride from Virginia. In 1887, many now-emancipated African American families asked Broaddus to help establish their own church. After the purchase of land near Cedar Creek for $6 on Nov. 13, 1888, Jerry Shorter was called as the first pastor, and Bill Waller, Polk Davis, Ephran Jones and Mason Bridges were ordained deacons. A small building was erected, and regular services began joyfully. The church was rebuilt several times and became the center of a community with a school, cemetery and store. The congregation continues to offer worship, fellowship and cultural heritage to the community.