DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker for Mt. Sinai Baptist Church has to say — and it's a story worth hearing. Now, if you want to understand a church, sometimes you have to understand the ground it stood on first.
Mt. Sinai Baptist Church didn't start here in Port Lavaca. It started fourteen miles to the southeast, in a place called Indianola, back in 1870.
That makes it one of the oldest Black fellowships in all of Calhoun County — and by the time this story's done, you'll understand exactly why that distinction was hard won. The first pastor was the Reverend Joseph Whitlock, who held the uncommon distinction of being an elder in the white Baptist congregation of that same city. That's where this congregation took root — in Indianola, in 1870, with Reverend Whitlock at the helm.
But Indianola had a way of testin' people. In 1875, a hurricane came through and destroyed the church's sanctuary. Just leveled it.
Some members of the congregation looked at the wreckage, looked southeast at the water, and made their decision. They packed up and moved to Port Lavaca. Not everyone went — not yet.
The remainder of the congregation stayed behind, maybe hopin' things would settle, maybe unwillin' to leave the ground they'd built on. Then 1886 came. A second major storm.
And that was that. The rest of the congregation joined their brothers and sisters in Port Lavaca. The church had been scattered by wind and water, and then gathered again by something stronger.
Here in Port Lavaca, they were known originally as the Second Baptist Church. That name held for a good while. But during the twenty-five-year pastorate of the Reverend A.
K. Black, the members made a choice — in 1905, they adopted the name they carry to this day: Mt. Sinai Baptist Church.
Two hurricanes. Two towns. One congregation.
That's not just survival — that's a calling.
What the marker says
Organized at Indianola (14 miles SE) in 1870, this church is one of the oldest black fellowships in Calhoun County. The first pastor was the Rev. Joseph Whitlock, an elder in the white Baptist congregation of the city. Several members of this church moved to Port Lavaca in 1875 after a hurricane destroyed the Indianola sanctuary. The remainder of the congregation joined them in 1886 following a second major storm. Known here originally as the Second Baptist Church, the members adopted the present name in 1905, during the 25-year pastorate of the Rev. A. K. Black. (1980)