Trout Creek Missionary Baptist Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. The Trout Creek Missionary Baptist Church sits in Newton County, and the story goes back, way back, at least as far as memory and tradition can carry it. Local oral tradition holds that the church was organized in 1876.

An early church building had that very year inscribed right on it, and when 1976 rolled around, the congregation celebrated its centennial. Now, the earliest surviving church files only date to 1899, with no record of the organization date or charter members, so the 1876 figure lives in that particular place where community memory and hard documentation don't quite overlap. Make of that what you will.

The congregation itself isn't troubled by it. They've been too busy worshiping to argue about paperwork. For several years, those early faithful shared a community building, a place that did triple and quadruple duty as a school, a community center, and a house of worship for area Baptists, Congregational Methodists, and Pentecostals alike.

Eventually the Baptist congregation bought that building and site outright, and in 1956 they constructed a new sanctuary. Two years later, in 1958, the church held its first full-time services with its first full-time pastor. Before that, the men who led this congregation were missionaries from the Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Association and the Missionary Baptist Association of Texas, or part-time preachers the congregation employed themselves.

Now, across those first several decades, a number of preachers and lay leaders kept things going. But one figure stands out in the telling. Elder Johnny Bean, known to just about everyone as Uncle Johnny, was a deacon and licensed minister.

The marker records his death in 1957. Uncle Johnny led Sunday School classes and held singing classes for the children. He served as Sunday School superintendent, teacher, and song director, all at once.

He was the treasurer. He helped with baptisms, and those baptisms, friend, they didn't happen in any indoor tank. They took place in the spring-fed waters of nearby Trout Creek itself, right up until a baptistery was finally built in the late 1960s.

There's something about that image that stays with you. The Ladies Auxiliary has ministered to those in need of food, care, and aid. Youth programs have brought Bible studies, camps, field trips, and service activities to the younger generations.

And the congregation today donates heavily to the service programs of its affiliate associations, continuing to grow in membership and in strength. A church that began in a shared building, tracked its history partly by a date carved in wood, baptized its members in a creek, and built itself one decade at a time into something that's still reaching outward. That's a story worth stopping for.

What the marker says

Trout Creek Missionary Baptist Church Local oral tradition holds that the Trout Creek Missionary Baptist Church was organized in 1876. An early church building had that year inscribed on it, and the congregation celebrated its centennial in 1976. The earliest church files date to 1899, with no record of the organization date or charter members. The congregation worshiped for several years in a community building, used as a school, community center and worship place for area Baptists, Congregational Methodists and Pentecostals. The Baptist congregation later bought the building and site, and constructed a new sanctuary in 1956. In 1958, the church held its first full-time services with its first full-time pastor. Until that time, early church pastors had been missionaries with the Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Association and Missionary Baptist Association of Texas, or part-time preachers employed by the congregation. During its first several decades, the church was served by several preachers and lay leaders. One important figure was elder Johnny Bean (d. 1957), a deacon and licensed minister. "Uncle Johnny" led Sunday School classes and held singing classes for the children, acting as Sunday School superintendent, teacher, song director. He also served as treasurer and assisted with baptisms, which took place in the spring-fed waters of nearby Trout Creek until a baptistery was built in the late 1960s. The Trout Creek congregation has shown dedication to missionary work. The Ladies Auxiliary group has ministered to those in need of food, care and aid, and youth programs have included Bible studies, camps, field trips and service activities. The church today donates heavily to the service programs of its affiliate associations and continues to grow in membership and in strength. (2003)