Mount Zion Baptist Church

Duane's take

The official marker is my guide here, and this is how I tell it. Now, some churches just appear on a Sunday morning like they were always there. Mount Zion Baptist Church was not one of those.

This congregation earned its place, piece by piece, board by board, across decades of DeWitt County weather and will. It started on July 18, 1869. Fifteen charter members gathered, and out of that gathering came an organized church.

The man who shaped it from the very beginning was the Reverend Mitchell Harrison. He was the congregation's first pastor, and he is credited with naming the new church. Mount Zion.

The Reverend Harrison put his hand to this work and, as you'll hear, he never really let go. But the congregation didn't have walls yet. Not permanent ones, anyway.

They worshiped in a number of places first, movin' as congregations sometimes must. One of the early stops was an outdoor brush arbor, built two miles north of Concrete. Open to the sky, open to the wind.

Eventually that brush arbor gave way to a log structure south of Concrete, which felt like progress. Solid timber, four walls, a roof. Then a storm came and destroyed the log church.

So they built again. A new wooden building went up. And when the congregation finally found their permanent home at this site, they didn't abandon that building.

They disassembled it, carried it, and reconstructed it right here in 1890. The first worship service in that rebuilt structure was held on October 31, 1890. Halloween, as it happens, though the marker doesn't make much of that.

The congregation probably didn't either. They had a church. That was the point.

Reverend Harrison stayed on. He had named this church and shepherded it through storms, literal and otherwise, and he continued to serve as pastor of Mount Zion until his death in 1906. That's a long tenure, from 1869 to the year he died, and the church bore the shape of his leadership throughout.

He was succeeded by the Reverend S. A. Pleasants, who served until 1923.

Then the Reverend N. E. Henderson took the pulpit, and he held it until his own death in 1947.

Four pastors. That's what the marker tells us: at the time of Mount Zion's centennial in 1969, this church had been guided by only four pastors across a full century. The building kept evolving too.

In 1951 the church purchased a schoolhouse to use as a fellowship hall. Then in 1956 the building was renovated, and the original twin bell towers, which had stood since the reconstruction, were replaced by a new steeple. So here is what you've got: a church born in 1869 from fifteen people and one pastor's vision, driven out by storms, picked up and moved and rebuilt, standing at its centennial with only four shepherds to its name.

Some things in Texas are fragile. Some are not.

What the marker says

Mount Zion Baptist Church was organized on July 18, 1869, with fifteen charter members. The Rev. Mitchell Harrison (d. 1906) was the congregation's first pastor and is credited with naming the new church. The congregation worshiped in a number of places before permanently locating here in 1890. An outdoor brush arbor was built two miles north of Concrete (4.5 miles northwest), which was later replaced by a log structure south of Concrete. After a storm destroyed the log church a new wooden building was erected, which was disassembled and reconstructed at this site in 1890. The first worship service was held in the new building on October 31, 1890. The Rev. Mr. Harrison continued to serve as pastor of Mount Zion until his death. He was succeeded by the Rev. S. A. Pleasants, who served until 1923, at which time the Rev. N. E. Henderson became pastor, serving until his death in 1947. The church purchased a schoolhouse for use as a fellowship hall in 1951. The church building was renovated in 1956, with the original twin bell towers being replaced by a new steeple. At the time of its centennial in 1969 Mount Zion Baptist Church had been guided by only four pastors. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986