Macedonia Hix Baptist Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm gonna tell it to you. Way out in Burleson County, before there was much of anything to speak of, traveling ministers were making their rounds through this stretch of Texas during the 1840s. No building, no steeple, no pews.

Just a preacher, a trail, and whoever would listen. Out of those wandering services, something took root. Around 1852, Macedonia Hix Baptist Church was organized, sitting on land that belonged to a man named Ezra Webb.

A congregation with a home, finally. Now, the oldest marked grave in the cemetery right next door belongs to Elder W. G.

O'Bryan, who died in 1867. He was there near the beginning, and the ground remembers him. The first church building stood until 1879, when it was torn down.

But the congregation didn't scatter. A new building went up on nearby land donated by J. W.

Porter, and the church carried on. The present structure was erected in 1928, and it's still standing. But here's the part I want you to sit with a moment.

In the early days, when summer revival meetings came around, they held them in a brush arbor. Just branches and sky for a ceiling. And those meetings drew large crowds.

Something about worshipping under open air has a pull that four walls sometimes can't match. Then there's the Reverend A. S.

Broaddus, born 1879, died 1963, who ministered to this congregation for about forty years, from 1913 to 1953. Forty years of sermons, forty years of funerals and weddings and hard seasons and good ones. One congregation, one preacher, four decades.

That's not just ministry. That's a life woven into a place.

What the marker says

Traveling ministers conducted services in this area during the 1840s. The church was organized about 1852 and located on land belonging to Ezra Webb. Oldest marked grave in the adjacent cemetery is that of Elder W. G. O'Bryan, who died in 1867. The first church building was torn down in 1879 and another built on nearby land donated by J .W. Porter. The present structure was erected in 1928. Summer revival meetings, originally held in a brush arbor, often attracted large crowds. The Rev. A. S. Broaddus (1879-1963) ministered to this congregation for about 40 years, 1913-53.