Sweet Union Baptist Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, some stories start with struggle, and this is one of them. The year was 1887, shortly after the establishment of Jacksonville, Texas, and a group of former slaves made a decision.

Led by the Reverend T.B. Johnson, they organized Sweet Union Baptist Church. Think about what that took.

These were people who had been denied the right to gather, to worship, to build anything of their own, and here they were, building something that would last well past any of their lifetimes. They started modest, meeting in a schoolhouse, because that's what you do when the vision is bigger than the resources. You use what you have, and you keep going.

By 1894, they had erected their own building. Their own. And by the early years of the twentieth century, the congregation had moved to this very site, right here where that marker stands.

Now here's the part that separates a congregation from a landmark. Sweet Union didn't just hold services and call it done. Members have historically been active in helping the community through educational programs and scholarships.

They provided assistance to the needy. They opened their doors, their church facilities, for meetings tied to social, economic, and political causes and concerns. In a time and place when that kind of openness carried real weight, they opened the doors anyway.

And today, Sweet Union Baptist Church continues to be a guiding spiritual force for the people of Jacksonville. A church born from people who had nothing but faith and each other, still standing, still guiding. That's not just history.

That's a long answer to a hard question about what endures.

What the marker says

Former slaves, led by the Rev. T.B. Johnson, organized Sweet Union Baptist Church in 1887 shortly after the establishment of Jacksonville. Members met in a schoolhouse before erecting their own building in 1894. The church moved to this site by the early years of the 20th century. Members have historically been active in helping the community through educational programs and scholarships, by providing assistance to the needy, and by opening church facilities for meetings related to social, economic and political causes and concerns. Today, Sweet Union Baptist Church continues to be a guiding spiritual force for the people of Jacksonville. (2007)