Sulphur Springs Missionary Baptist Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, the records only go back to 1895, but tradition, well, tradition reaches a little further than paper does. Story has it that Sulphur Springs Missionary Baptist Church got its start in 1890, when the folks living out in that part of Rusk County decided they needed a congregation.

They gathered themselves together and they made it so. In the beginning, they didn't have a proper church building. What they had was the Sulphur Springs schoolhouse, sitting there near the springs the whole community was named for.

You use what you've got, and that's exactly what they did. Somewhere in the early part of the twentieth century, the congregation picked up and moved to this very site, and they built themselves a frame sanctuary. A real one.

Then over the next several decades, as the church kept on growin', other facilities got added. The place expanded the way a healthy congregation does, piece by piece, generation by generation. And it wasn't just about looking after their own, either.

Through the years, members reached out and supported other churches by way of the Texas Mission Builders program, and they stood behind denominational organizations like the American Baptist Association. No records from before 1895. Just tradition, a schoolhouse by some springs, and more than a century of folks showing up.

That's a foundation that doesn't need paperwork to hold.

What the marker says

While no church records predating 1895 exist today, tradition holds that Sulphur Springs Missionary Baptist Church dates to 1890, when area residents formed the congregation. They first met in the Sulphur Springs schoolhouse near the springs for which the community is named. In the early part of the 20th century, the congregation moved to this site, where it built a frame sanctuary. Other facilities were added during the next several decades as the church continued to grow. Over the years, members have supported other churches through the Texas Mission Builders program, as well as denominational organizations such as the American Baptist Association. (2005)