Pecan Grove Baptist Church

Duane's take

Here's my telling of the official marker for Pecan Grove Baptist Church, out in Coryell County. Now settle in, because this one goes back a good ways. August 7, 1882.

That's the day it all started, when Monroe M. Smith, James M. Davidson, Joe F. and Martha J.

Alsup, and Cordelia C. Beaty gathered together, with the help of a man named D. J.

Hardin and the Reverend J. M. Wright, and organized what they called the Coryell Creek Baptist Church of Christ.

Seven more members joined that very same day. Seven. On the first day.

That's not a struggling little seed of a congregation, that's a congregation with momentum right out of the gate. In the early days, they didn't have walls to worship under. Services were held at Blackfoot and Davidson Schools, and at annual brush arbor meetings out at Pecan Grove, on the west side of Coryell Creek.

Now a brush arbor is about as humble as church gets, just timber and branches overhead and the sky beyond that, but there is something about worshiping under open sky beside a creek that has a way of sticking with people. And stick it did. By 1903, the congregation, now going by the name Coryell Creek Missionary Baptist Church, built themselves a tabernacle.

They crossed to the east side of Coryell Creek to do it, on land donated by a man named Frank M. Martin. That's a generous gift, land, and the kind of thing a community remembers.

They kept growing, kept meeting, and in 1929 the congregation changed its name to Pecan Grove Baptist Church and began building a sanctuary at this very site. The very next year, 1930, the old tabernacle had to be enlarged just to hold the crowds coming in for the annual camp meetings. That's the kind of problem every church hopes to have.

Over the years, the facilities kept expanding, kept modernizing. Pecan Grove earned recognition from Baylor University for its support of ministerial students, no small thing. The church has held memberships in the Leon River, Coryell, and Tri-River Baptist Associations, and in the Southern Baptist Convention.

And here's the detail that lands hardest when you really let it sink in: as many as six generations of some local families have been members of this congregation. Six generations. That means the great-great-great-grandchildren of folks who might have sat under that brush arbor on the west bank of Coryell Creek are still showing up.

That is not just a church. That is a through-line. And as of the time this marker was placed in 1994, Pecan Grove was still going, still reaching out into the community with various outreach programs.

From a brush arbor on a creek bank to six generations deep, that is one church that knew how to take root.

What the marker says

On August 7, 1882, this church was organized as Coryell Creek Baptist Church of Christ by Monroe M. Smith, James M. Davidson, Joe F. and Martha J. Alsup, and Cordelia C. Beaty, with the help of D. J. Hardin and the Rev. J. M. Wright. An additional seven members joined that day. Early services were held at Blackfoot and Davidson Schools and at annual brush arbor meetings at Pecan Grove on the west side of Coryell Creek. In 1903 the congregation, then known as Coryell Creek Missionary Baptist Church, built a tabernacle on the east side of Coryell Creek on land donated by Frank M. Martin. In 1929 the congregation changed its name to Pecan Grove Baptist Church and began building a sanctuary at this site. In 1930 the tabernacle was enlarged to accommodate the large number of people attending annual camp meetings. Church facilities have been enlarged and modernized over the years. Pecan Grove, recognized by Baylor University for its support of ministerial students, has held memberships in the Leon River, Coryell, and Tri-River Baptist Associations, and the Southern Baptist Convention. As many as six generations of some local families have been members of this congregation. Pecan grove continues to serve the area with various outreach programs. 1994