DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll pass it along just the same way. Now, twelve. That's where this story starts: twelve charter members, gathered together in 1895, out in Smithfield, Texas, with enough conviction to organize a Baptist church from the ground up.
Their first pastor was the Reverend G.W. Green, and you get the sense that twelve determined souls and one reverend is more than enough to set something in motion. Seven years they worshipped and worked, and then in 1902, the congregation built a proper sanctuary right there on that spot, on town lots donated by a man named G.W.
Gunter. Someone gave the ground. Someone else gave the labor.
That's how a church takes root. And once it did, it didn't just sit still. This congregation supported area missions, organized a Youth Union, a Sunday School, a Woman's Missionary Union; building community the way you build anything worth having, piece by piece, year by year.
By 1954, they'd grown enough in spirit and reach that they established a whole separate congregation: Shady Grove Baptist Church. Then came 1958, and the church took on a new name: First Baptist Church of Smithfield. A new identity, but the same unbroken line back to those twelve charter members.
Four years after that, in 1962, they raised a new sanctuary, and over the years more facilities followed. Twelve people in 1895. One donated patch of ground.
One reverend named Green. And what grew from all of that is still there, still serving the area, still adding to the story. Some things, turns out, were built to last.
What the marker says
This church was organized by 12 charter members in 1895; the Rev. G.W. Green served as first Pastor. A sanctuary was built here in 1902 on town lots donated by G.W. Gunter. The church supported area missions and organized a Youth Union, Sunday School, and Woman's Missionary Union. The congregation established Shady Grove Baptist Church in 1954. The church was renamed First Baptist Church of Smithfield in 1958. A new sanctuary was built in 1962 and several facilities were added over the years. The church serves the area with a variety of programs.