Rocky Creek Baptist Church

Duane's take

Here's the story as the official marker tells it. Eighteen people. That's where it begins.

Not eighteen hundred, not eighteen dozen. Eighteen souls gathered under a brush arbor near Rocky Creek in Brown County on August 18, 1877, and decided that was enough to start something. They called the Reverend R.

L. Baker as their first pastor, and before the year was out, by November, they had broken ground on a one-room church building. Eighteen people, one room.

Sounds about right. Now, that first building served its purpose, but congregations have a way of outgrowing their walls. By 1889 they put up a larger structure.

Bigger roof, bigger vision. And for thirty years, that building stood. Then 1919 came along, and a storm had other ideas.

That building was destroyed. Just like that. The congregation went quiet for two years.

No meetings, no gathering, just the memory of what had been and maybe the question of what came next. Then 1921 arrived, and the answer became clear. They came together again and built a new house of worship.

Because that is apparently what this congregation does. The church kept growing through the decades that followed, offering worship, educational, and outreach programs. New structures went up in 1952, and again in 1983.

From eighteen people under a brush arbor to a community still being served today. Rocky Creek Baptist Church didn't just survive the storm. It outlasted it.

What the marker says

Eighteen people gathered under a brush arbor near Rocky Creek in Brown County on August 18, 1877, to organize a Baptist congregation. They called the Rev. R. L. Baker as their first pastor, and by November began construction of a one-room church building. It was replaced by a larger structure in 1889, and in 1919 that building was destroyed in a storm. The congregation ceased meeting for two years, but in 1921 came together to once again build a new house of worship. The church grew in the ensuing decades, offering a variety of worship, educational and outreach programs. New structures were completed at this site in 1952 and 1983. The congregation continues to serve the community. (2001)