DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs. Now, before this church had walls, it had roads. Long, dusty Texas roads, and preachers riding them.
That's how faith first came to Sutherland Springs — circuit riders passing through, carrying the Word on horseback, and folks opening their homes so the sermon had somewhere to land. That went on until 1926, when a group of people decided it was time to stop borrowing space and build something of their own. They called it the Sutherland Springs Central Baptist Church at first.
Started humbly enough, meeting in the old Sutherland Springs School building while they got their footing. But that congregation had vision. They set their sights on a particular piece of ground — the site of the home of Dr.
John Sutherland, the founder of the community itself. And on that ground they raised a frame building. Dr.
Sutherland's hand-dug water cistern, lined with limestone, is still visible there to this day. Think about that. The man dug that cistern by hand, and it's still standing.
Some things are built to last. The original building served the congregation well, but by 1949 they were ready for something new. So they replaced it — on the very same site — with a modern facility.
And here's the part worth savoring: the farmers, the laborers, the truck drivers within that congregation built the 1949 sanctuary themselves. Adeptly, the marker says. These were working people who knew how to work.
They even used lumber salvaged from the old building to do it. While construction was underway, the congregation gathered at the Old Town Sutherland Springs School gymnasium, keeping the fellowship alive between hammer swings. This was a church that lived out loud in its community.
Vacation Bible School, Fall Festival, Sunday School, the Women's Missionary Union, the Baptist Training Union — the calendar stayed full. Baptisms happened out in Cibolo Creek, the way baptisms probably ought to happen. Members made trips to the zoo and the aquarium, marched in the Old Towne Days Parade, and camped out together with sermons by the lake under the open sky.
They ran a food and clothing pantry. They held a twice-annual tent revival. Every Thanksgiving, they set a table for the whole community.
This was a congregation woven into the life of Sutherland Springs like thread into cloth. And then came November 5, 2017. A gunman entered that sanctuary and killed twenty-six church members.
Twenty-six. The marker calls it tragedy, and that word doesn't even begin to carry the weight of it. The community of Sutherland Springs, already small, bore a loss that would buckle most anything standing.
But this church had been building things since 1926. It had built a sanctuary with its own hands. It had baptized its children in a creek and fed its neighbors and buried its dead and kept on going.
So when the time came to decide what to do next, the congregation made their answer plain: they built a new sanctuary on the same property. Determined, the marker says, to continue their history of service and love in the community. From circuit riders to a hand-dug cistern to lumber carried over from one building into the next — this church has always been about what you choose to keep standing.
And it's still standing.
What the marker says
Originally called Sutherland Springs Central Baptist Church, the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs was established in 1926. Prior to this date, citizens of the community heard sermons from circuit riders traveling through the area and met in each other's homes. In 1926, a group of people gathered to form a Baptist church, initially meeting in the old Sutherland Springs School building. Soon, the congregation erected a frame building on the site of the home of Dr. John Sutherland, the founder of the community. Dr. Sutherland's hand-dug water cistern lined with limestone is still visible. In 1949, the original church was replaced with a new, modern facility on the same site using lumber from the old building. The farmers, laborers and truck drivers within the congregation adeptly constructed the 1949 sanctuary themselves. During the construction, the congregation met at the Old Town Sutherland Springs School gymnasium. Members engaged with each other and the larger community through regular events. First Baptist's calendar included Vacation Bible School, Fall Festival, Sunday School and meetings of the Women's Missionary Union and Baptist Training Union. Baptisms were conducted in Cibolo Creek. Regular outings included trips to the zoo and aquarium, Old Towne Days Parade and camp outs which featured sermons by the lake. Members organized community outreaches such as a food and clothing pantry, a twice-annual tent revival and Thanksgiving community dinner. Tragedy struck the church on November 5, 2017, when a gunman killed 26 church members. To help heal from the horrible event, the church built a new sanctuary on the property, determined to continue its history of service and love in the community. (2020)