Near Site of Pansy Baptist Church

Duane's take

The official marker tells this story, and I'm just the one passing it along. Out here on the South Plains, where the wind doesn't ask permission and the land keeps its own kind of time, a handful of folks got together in 1905 to build something that would last. J.

V. Leatherwood, John Holt, P. H.

Leatherwood, Snow Loyd, and J. M. Leatherwood organized the Pansy Baptist Church to serve the residents of the Pansy community.

Five names on a founding roll, and a whole lot of faith to back them up. Now, in those early years, the congregation didn't have a building to call their own. They made do with the school building — which is a very Texas thing to do, using what you've got until you can build what you need.

That went on until 1916, when the congregation finally raised up its first sanctuary. They even put an arbor on the grounds for revival services, because if you're going to have a revival on the South Plains in summer, you'd better have some shade. The church settled in, the community grew around it, and the years moved along.

Then in 1946, the whole building was picked up and moved two miles south for the convenience of the membership. Just relocated it. Two miles.

Like it was a piece of furniture somebody wanted on the other side of the room. A year later, in 1947, a parsonage was erected — because this congregation was ready for its first full-time pastor, and a pastor needs a place to hang his hat. Then on July 16, 1950, a brand new sanctuary was built and dedicated.

Things were looking good for Pansy Baptist. Then August of 1965 arrived, and the church building burned. Just like that, gone.

But here's the thing about a congregation — the building is not the church. The people are the church. And so these folks held services in a church member's barn, week after week, until December, when a new structure was completed.

They didn't skip a beat. Not one beat. The church kept on.

It supported a strong mission outreach program. But out in rural communities across Texas, the years have a way of thinning things out. Population dwindled in Pansy.

Slowly, steadily, the way it does. And in 1995, the remaining members of the Pansy Baptist Church voted to disband. Now that could have been the end of the story.

A quiet vote, a locked door, a building left to the weather. But it wasn't. The congregation decided that building — the one they'd worshipped in, the one that had survived and stood and meant something — shouldn't just sit.

They donated it to the Mt. Zion Baptist Church, an African American congregation in Floydada. And then came the part that'll make you set down your coffee.

That building was moved 32 miles. Thirty-two miles, by 140 volunteers from Crosbyton, Pansy, Floydada, and Wiley. Four communities, one hundred and forty people, one church building on the move.

Pansy Baptist organized in 1905 and closed its doors in 1995. But its walls? Its walls went on down the road to keep doing what they were built to do.

What the marker says

The Pansy Baptist Church was organized in 1905 by J. V. Leatherwood, John Holt, P. H. Leatherwood, Snow Loyd, and J. M. Leatherwood to serve the residents of the Pansy community. Church services were conducted in the school building until 1916 when the congregation constructed its first sanctuary. An arbor was built on the church grounds for revival services. The church building was moved two miles south in 1946 for the convenience of the membership. A parsonage was erected in 1947 for the congregation's first full-time pastor. A new sanctuary was built and was dedicated on July 16, 1950. The church building burned in August 1965, and services were held in a church member's barn until December, when a new structure was completed. The church supported a strong mission outreach program. Through the years population dwindled in the rural community of Pansy. In 1995 the remaining members of the Pansy Baptist Church voted to disband. The church building was donated to the Mt. Zion Baptist Church, an African American congregation in Floydada. The building was moved 32 miles by 140 volunteers from Crosbyton, Pansy, Floydada, and Wiley. (1996)