St. Paul Baptist Church

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about St. Paul Baptist Church in Lamar County. Now settle in, because this story starts right after the war, and it runs deep.

The year is 1867. Out of that particular moment in Texas history, a congregation takes shape. St.

Paul Baptist Church is organized, and from the very beginning, somebody has to lead it. That somebody is the Reverend Elisha Barnes, born in 1811, and he is the original pastor. Twenty years.

That man served this congregation for twenty years, and along the way he led them to do something lasting. Around 1876, they built their first church. Think about what it means to build something with your own hands, something that says: we are here, we are staying, and we are growing.

St. Paul was already part of something bigger by then. Back in 1872, it had been one of the founding churches of the Zion District Baptist Association.

That's a legacy with roots. Now Reverend Barnes carries this congregation until 1895, the very year the marker tells us he passed. Then the Reverend C.

N. Hampton steps into that pulpit and holds it from 1895 all the way to 1920. Under Hampton's watch, the congregation raises a brick edifice.

Brick. That is a statement of permanence, of ambition, of faith built to last. And then 1916 arrives.

The Paris fire. That brick church, that symbol of everything they had worked toward, is lost in the fire that tears through Paris. You don't gloss over something like that.

You say it plainly: the church was lost. And yet. St.

Paul does not end there. The congregation carries on, and under the Reverend J. H.

Harris, the present church is finished. That word, finished, does a quiet kind of heavy lifting. Finished means they started again.

And the pastors who served through the years form a long and honorable roll call: W. M. Conner, L.

M. Luke, C. B.

Martin, S. A. Tillman, J.

R. Miner, L. V.

Bolton, J. A. Brown, M.

J. Stewart, B. S.

Peoples, T. J. Houston, L.

K. Kimbrough, E. Rhodes, V.

C. L. Coleman, J.

E. Coby, S. K.

Bizzell, H. M. McCown, L.

H. Brown, W. E.

Bradford, and W. S. Wright.

Each one of those names carried a congregation forward. The marker also records the church officers serving in 1973: W. M.

Wortham, chairman of the Board of Deacons; L. C. Pruitt, chairman of trustees; Ralph Rodgers, financial secretary; Jesse L.

Mathis, treasurer; and Mrs. Sweet M. Ferguson, clerk.

A church organized in 1867, a fire in 1916, and officers still named and recorded in 1973. That is not just survival. That is a community that keeps showing up, keeps building, and makes sure its name is written down.

What the marker says

Organized 1867; one of founding churches (1872), Zion District Baptist Association. Original pastor, the Rev. Elisha Barnes (1811-95), served 20 years, led congregation to build (about 1876) its first church. The Rev. C. N. Hampton, pastor 1895-1920, saw a brick edifice erected, lost in 1916 Paris fire. Present church was finished under the Rev. J. H. Harris. Other pastors: W. M. Conner, L. M. Luke, C. B. Martin, S. A. Tillman, J. R. Miner, L. V. Bolton, J. A. Brown, M. J. Stewart, B. S. Peoples, T. J. Houston, L. K. Kimbrough, E. Rhodes, V. C. L. Coleman, J. E. Coby, S. K. Bizzell, H. M. McCown, L. H. Brown, W. E. Bradford, and W. S. Wright. Incise on back of marker: Church officers, 1973: W. M. Wortham, chairman, Board of Deacons; L. C. Pruitt, chairman of trustees; Ralph Rodgers, financial secretary, Jesse L. Mathis, treasurer; Mrs. Sweet M. Ferguson, clerk. (1974)