Greater St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church.

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say, right here on the road through Lubbock County. Pull up a chair, because this one earns it. We're talking about a congregation that built something out of practically nothing, and I mean that more literally than most stories allow.

Let's start at the beginning. In the early days of the town of Lubbock, the African American community was small. The 1910 census counted five Black citizens.

Five. By 1920, that number had grown to 152. Most had come from small towns in Central and East Texas, and they settled into a neighborhood people called The Flats, northwest of 19th Street and Avenue A.

It became Lubbock's first African American neighborhood, and it had homes, businesses, and churches. A real community, taking root in the dust. Now, African American churches in places like this carried more than a Sunday morning.

They served as social centers, as educational centers, as the kind of gathering place that holds a community together when not much else will. In 1921, a congregation called Caldonia Baptist Church was organized by Rev. Wiley.

The following year, 1922, Rev. J. J.

Davis followed. They met in the neighborhood's masonic lodge at 16th Street and Avenue A. Then in 1924, worshippers bought land at 1820 Avenue A.

They erected first a wooden shelter, and then a frame sanctuary right there on that site. That frame sanctuary. Remember it, because it's about to travel.

In 1950, the congregation purchased new property on 26th Street, and they moved that frame sanctuary to the new site. Now here is where the story gets its spine. The members wanted to build something bigger, something brick, something that would last.

They went to insurance companies. Dozens of them. They went to banks.

Dozens of those too. Every single one turned them away. So the men of that congregation did what people do when the door is shut in their face.

They got to work. Evenings, after their regular jobs, they came to the site. They did that for sixteen months.

Sixteen months of after-hours labor, building a new church and an education center with their own hands and their own time. And when it was finished, the congregation placed an advertisement in the newspaper. They invited the whole community to a dedication on December 8th, 1957, and they described it as a chance, their words, to see what the Lord has done through people who had faith in God and no money in the bank.

That is a line that deserves a moment of quiet. No money in the bank. Sixteen months of evenings.

Dozens of rejections. And there it stood. Greater St.

Luke Missionary Baptist Church, as Caldonia Baptist had come to be known, didn't stop there. The church became a polling place. It sponsored a boy scout troop.

It ran marching drill teams, music programs, and a radio ministry. It kept reaching into the community the way those early churches in The Flats always had. And today, Greater St.

Luke Missionary Baptist Church remains an active and vibrant congregation, entering its second century of service. Five names in a census. A neighborhood built from scratch.

A church built by hand, twice. That's the kind of story a road marker barely has room to hold.

What the marker says

The African American community was a small but growing segment in the early days of the town of Lubbock. Only five black citizens were counted in the 1910 census, growing to 152 by 1920. Most had come from small towns in Central and East Texas and settled in a neighborhood called "The Flats," Northwest of 19th street and Avenue A. It became Lubbock's first African American neighborhood and included homes, businesses and churches. Often, African American churches served not only spiritual needs but as social and educational centers. In 1921, Caldonia Baptist church (later Greater St. Luke's Missionary Baptist Church) was organized by Rev. Wiley, followed by Rev. J.J. Davis in 1922. The congregation first met in the neighborhood's masonic lodge at 16th street and avenue A. In 1924, worshippers bought land at 1820 Avenue A, erecting first a wooden shelter and then a frame sanctuary at the site. In 1950, new property on 26th street was purchased, with the frame sanctuary moved to the new site. Denied assistance from dozens of insurance companies and banks, members made larger brick facilities a reality through hard work and patience. Men worked at the site evenings after their regular jobs over a 16-month period to build a new church and education center. In a newspaper advertisement, the congregation invited the community to a December 8, 1957, dedication "to see what the Lord has done through people who had faith in God and no money in the bank." The church has been active beyond worship as a polling place, boy scout troop sponsor, and activities including marching drill teams, music and a radio ministry. Greater St. Luke missionary Baptist church remains an active and vibrant congregation entering its second century of service.