DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Jerusalem Baptist Church in Gregg County — and friend, this one deserves your full attention. Let's go back to the 1850s, when most enslaved people in this country had contact with organized Christian churches, but precious little say in how those churches ran. Then came Emancipation, and something shifted.
A great number of African Americans became Baptist — and the marker is clear about why — because they were free, at last, to establish their own churches under their own governance. Schools and churches became the ground on which African Americans could improve and control their own lives. That's not a small thing.
That is everything. Now, the land where Jerusalem Baptist Church would eventually stand had its own journey to make. The community out near Longview had been known before the Civil War as Earpville.
Then, in 1872, the International and Great Northern Railroad connected with Texas and Pacific tracks near Longview, and that pre-war community got a new name — the Junction. Railroads have a way of renaming things. Somewhere in the 1890s, a group of Black worshipers purchased land in the Junction, on the Benjamin Estate.
But the church itself didn't spring up out of nothing — it grew out of something called the Consolidated Brotherhood, a nondenominational lodge where African Americans from across Gregg County gathered to hear lectures and Bible stories. Not a denomination yet. Just people gathering, learning, building community.
And as membership grew, that seed became a congregation, and that congregation became Jerusalem Baptist Church. The original sanctuary served its people well enough that it eventually outgrew itself. It was torn down and rebuilt.
But here's the detail that'll stay with you: two windows from that original church were kept. Kept, and incorporated right into the new auditorium. They're still there.
Still part of the church. Two panes of glass carrying the whole weight of where this congregation came from. In September of 1942, Rev.
R. B. Bradley became the first full-time minister.
Under his leadership, a parsonage was erected and the church was enlarged. The congregation was growing, and growing with purpose. Then came the Civil Rights Movement, and Jerusalem Baptist Church was right in the middle of it — not on the sidelines, not watching from a distance.
Nationally-recognized gospel minister Rev. S. Y.
Nixson served the church during that era. He was a spokesperson for equality in education, and he helped end segregation in the Longview public schools. During Rev.
Nixson's twenty-nine-year tenure, the educational annex was built, and the auditorium was bricked and air conditioned. From a nondenominational lodge where folks gathered for Bible stories, to a church that helped reshape the schools of Longview, Texas — Jerusalem Baptist Church has been, and the marker says it plainly, a source of stability and spiritual strength in the African American community. Two windows from the beginning, still in the walls.
Some things you hold onto on purpose.
What the marker says
JERUSALEM BAPTIST CHURCH IN THE 1850s, MOST SLAVES HAD CONTACT WITH ORGANIZED CHRISTIAN CHURCHES AND AFTER EMANCIPATION A GREAT NUMBER OF AFRICAN AMERICANS BECAME BAPTIST BECAUSE THEY WERE FREE TO ESTABLISH THEIR OWN CHURCHES UNDER THEIR OWN GOVERNANCE. SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES HELPED AFRICAN AMERICANS IMPROVE AND CONTROL THEIR OWN LIVES. THE PRE-CIVIL WAR COMMUNITY OF EARPVILLE BECAME KNOWN AS THE JUNCTION WHEN THE INTERNATIONAL & GREAT NORTHERN RAILROAD CONNECTED WITH TEXAS AND PACIFIC TRACKS NEAR LONGVIEW IN 1872. DURING THE 1890s, A GROUP OF BLACK WORSHIPERS PURCHASED LAND IN THE JUNCTION ON THE BENJAMIN ESTATE. JERUSALEM BAPTIST CHURCH GREW OUT OF AN ORGANIZATION KNOWN AS THE CONSOLIDATED BROTHERHOOD WHICH WAS A NONDENOMINATIONAL LODGE WHERE GREGG COUNTY AFRICAN AMERICANS GATHERED TO HEAR LECTURES AND BIBLE STORIES. AS MEMBERSHIP GREW, THE ORIGINAL SANCTUARY WAS TORN DOWN AND REBUILT. TWO WINDOWS FROM THE ORIGINAL CHURCH WERE KEPT AND INCORPORATED INTO THE NEW AUDITORIUM AND ARE STILL A PART OF THE CHURCH. REV. R. B. BRADLEY BECAME THE FIRST FULL-TIME MINISTER IN SEPTEMBER 1942. UNDER HIS LEADERSHIP A PARSONAGE WAS ERECTED AND THE CHURCH ENLARGED. NATIONALLY-RECOGNIZED GOSPEL MINISTER REV. S. Y. NIXSON SERVED THE CHURCH DURING THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT. REV. NIXSON WAS A SPOKESPERSON FOR EQUALITY IN EDUCATION AND HELPED END SEGREGATION IN THE LONGVIEW PUBLIC SCHOOLS. DURING REV. NIXSON'S 29-YEAR TENURE, THE EDUCATIONAL ANNEX WAS BUILT AND THE AUDITORIUM WAS BRICKED AND AIR CONDITIONED. JERUSALEM BAPTIST CHURCH CONTINUES TO PROVIDE STABILITY AND SPIRITUAL STRENGTH IN THE AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY.