St. John Missionary Baptist Church

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says, right there on the ground in Wise County. Now settle in, because this one starts, as the best stories often do, with a group of women who decided something needed to exist that didn't yet. Spring of 1882.

A group of women, led by Missouri Brown, started a Sunday school. That might sound modest, but don't let it fool you. That Sunday school was the seed of something that would outlast every doubter and every decade for more than a century.

From that Sunday school, those women initiated the organization of a new church. St. John Missionary Baptist Church.

And the first building they raised up? It didn't just serve one congregation. It was used as a school, and it became a center for all denominations.

That's the kind of place it was from the very beginning. Open. Useful.

Bigger than any single Sunday morning. Reverend Morris Anderson of Gainesville came on as the first pastor, lending his leadership to something that had already proven it had roots. Then time kept moving, as time will do.

The original building gave way to a new one-room structure in 1941, built right on the site of the church that stands today. And that one-room structure was just the beginning of what was comin'. Under Reverend H.B.

Allen, an auditorium was added in 1947. Four years later, in 1951, a brick structure replaced the old church entirely. Each chapter built on the last, literally.

Stone by stone, year by year. Today, St. John Missionary Baptist Church holds a distinction that the marker states plainly and that carries real weight: it is the only church in the area that is predominantly African American, and it has served that community for over a century.

Missouri Brown and those women in the spring of 1882 didn't just start a Sunday school. They started something that's still standing.

What the marker says

ST. JOHN MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH THIS HISTORIC CHURCH FORMED IN THE SPRING OF 1882. A GROUP OF WOMEN, LED BY MISSOURI BROWN, BEGAN A SUNDAY SCHOOL AND LATER INITIATED THE ORGANIZATION OF A NEW CHURCH. THE FIRST CHURCH BUILDING WAS USED AS A SCHOOL AND BECAME A CENTER FOR ALL DENOMINATIONS. REVEREND MORRIS ANDERSON OF GAINESVILLE SERVED AS THE FIRST PASTOR. THE ORIGINAL BUILDING WAS REPLACED WITH A ONE-ROOM STRUCTURE IN 1941 ON THE SITE OF TODAY'S CHURCH. UNDER REV. H.B. ALLEN, AN AUDITORIUM WAS ADDED IN 1947 AND A BRICK STRUCTURE REPLACED THE OLD CHURCH IN 1951. ST. JOHN MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH IS THE ONLY CHURCH IN THE AREA THAT IS PREDOMINATELY AFRICAN AMERICAN AND HAS SERVED THE COMMUNITY FOR OVER A CENTURY. (2012)