Odem First Baptist Church

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Odem First Baptist Church, out in San Patricio County. Now, every congregation has a beginning, and this one has a date you can pin right to the calendar. Sunday, April 28, 1912.

The Baptists of Odem gathered up and organized their own congregation. They called in Rev. R.

A. Cohran, General Missionary of the Blanco Association, to help them do it right. J.

F. Janicke served as clerk, W. B.

Jones as moderator, and Rev. Cohran read the Articles of Faith and the Church Covenant aloud. The congregation adopted them on the spot.

Just like that, a church was born. Of course, a church without a building is just people with conviction, and conviction alone doesn't keep the rain off. So they borrowed a roof.

The congregation met once a month at the Methodist Church, making do until something better came along. And something better did come along. The Odem Town Site Company donated land at the corner of Kline and Sellers Streets, and a frame sanctuary was completed.

They had a home. But a congregation doesn't stand still. Come the 1930s, baptisms were being performed as far out as Sinton and Sodville.

The church was reaching. Then the decision came to move again, this time to Turner Street, where several members contributed their own labor and materials toward a new building. R.

G. McDaniel, Superintendent of Odem Schools, served as chairman of the building committee and painted the new church himself. That building went up for fifteen thousand dollars, and the first services in that new sanctuary were held in May 1935.

The congregation kept building its life together. A two-bedroom parsonage was completed in 1941. Membership had reached 160 by that time, and the Sunday School was growing.

Then the world intervened. World War II made building materials impossible to secure, and expansion plans had to wait. But the church didn't go quiet.

In 1943, they held a candlelight service honoring the members who were out there serving in the war. One of those members, Bill Spradley, did not come home. He was the church's only World War II casualty.

That candlelight service carries a weight you don't forget. When the war was over and the world started stitching itself back together, the church moved forward too. In the late 1940s, a farmhouse was moved right onto the campus to serve as an education building.

Then in September 1950, the congregation celebrated something they called Builders Day, later known as Harvest Day, with the proceeds going toward a building fund. That tradition, started that September, continues to this day. A new brick sanctuary was dedicated in July 1951.

New education buildings followed in 1955 and again in 1969. One step at a time, decade by decade. By the time this marker was placed in 2012, Odem First Baptist Church had been at it for a century.

A hundred years of neighbors helping neighbors, of missions, charity, and outreach. Started on a Sunday in April with nothing more than a borrowed room, an article of faith, and a room full of people willing to sign their name to it. That's a foundation that tends to hold.

What the marker says

ON SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 1912, BAPTISTS OF ODEM ORGANIZED THEIR OWN CONGREGATION. REV. R. A. COHRAN, GENERAL MISSIONARY OF THE BLANCO ASSOCIATION, WAS CALLED TO ASSIST. WITH J. F. JANICKE AS CLERK AND W. B. JONES AS MODERATOR, REV. COHRAN READ THE ARTICLES OF FAITH AND CHURCH COVENANT, WHICH WERE ADOPTED BY THE CHURCH. WITH NO BUILDING OF THEIR OWN, THE CONGREGATION MET ONCE A MONTH AT THE METHODIST CHURCH. LATER THE ODEM TOWN SITE COMPANY DONATED LAND AT KLINE AND SELLERS STREETS, AND A FRAME SANCTUARY WAS COMPLETED. IN THE 1930s, BAPTISMS WERE PERFORMED AT SINTON AND SODVILLE. THE CHURCH LATER MOVED TO TURNER STREET, WITH SEVERAL MEMBERS CONTRIBUTING LABOR AND MATERIALS FOR A NEW BUILDING. R. G. McDANIEL, SUPERINTENDENT OF ODEM SCHOOLS, WAS CHAIRMAN OF THE BUILDING COMMITTEE AND PAINTED THE NEW CHURCH, BUILT FOR $15,000. THE FIRST SERVICES IN THE NEW SANCTUARY WERE HELD IN MAY 1935. A TWO-BEDROOM PARSONAGE WAS COMPLETED IN 1941. THE MEMBERSHIP NUMBERED 160 AT THIS TIME AND THE SUNDAY SCHOOL WAS GROWING. HOWEVER, THE CHURCH WAS UNABLE TO SECURE BUILDING MATERIALS DURING WORLD WAR II. A 1943 CANDLELIGHT SERVICE HONORED CHURCH MEMBERS SERVING IN THE WAR. BILL SPRADLEY WAS THE CHURCH’S ONLY WORLD WAR II CASUALTY. IN THE LATE 1940s, A FARMHOUSE WAS MOVED TO THE CAMPUS FOR AN EDUCATION BUILDING. IN SEP. 1950, THE CHURCH CELEBRATED BUILDERS DAY (LATER HARVEST DAY), BENEFITING A BUILDING FUND AND STARTING A TRADITION WHICH CONTINUES TO THIS DAY. A NEW BRICK SANCTUARY WAS DEDICATED IN JULY 1951, AND NEW EDUCATION BUILDINGS WERE ADDED IN 1955 AND 1969. ODEM FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH HAS SERVED FOR A CENTURY AND WILL CONTINUE TO ENCOURAGE ITS NEIGHBORS AND COMMUNITY THROUGH MISSIONS, CHARITY AND OUTREACH.