| Church History |
| Bosque County was organized in 1854, Five years later, on March 13, 1859, the First Baptist Church of Meridian was organized by Bro. John Clabaugh, a pioneer Baptist preacher and missionary for the Texas Baptist Convention, and Bo. W. A. Manson, also a Baptist missionary. The church membership was 10. Much of the early history of the church and those taking part is obscured by the fact that in 1917 the records were placed in the library of Baylor University for safekeeping by the pastor, W. A. Bryan. The library burned to the ground in 1922 destroying everything within its walls. An early factual date concerning the church was found written in the margin of Miss Ella George's Bible saying that she was baptized into the church on November 3rd, 1864. The names of Elder and Mrs. John Henry Johnson and Mrs. Sara George are the only names we are sure of as being charter members. A. J. George was converted while serving in the Civil War and joined the church upon his return home. We have the names of many families who were members of the church in the early days. There are five members of the present congregation who are descendants of four of those early members. Sara and A. J. George Elder and Mrs. John Henry Johnson Joseph and Sarah Smith R. G. and Jack Childers Miss Carrie Smith Gus Jordan Will Lockett Judge O. L. Lockett Eugene Rowland and his mother, J. K. Helton G. W. Randall W. T. Johnson Sallie Vaughn Mrs. Effie Saddler B. A. Burdett and wife Miss Effie Childers R. G. Childers L. S. Knight William P. Robertson John A. Cochran Gussie Fossett Rebecca Harvey Minnie and Jane Johnson Mattie Lomax George W. Jane and Henry Lacy Tranquilla Rock L. C. Kirkpatrick Ella George W. A. Hill Essie McGill E. T. Percival and wife, John and Susan Smith W. J. Smith Lizzie Shuford T. J. Scott Mrs. Mollie Odle Mrs. Ida Renmick A. R. Ellis S. C. Smith Sid Powell Judge B. J. Word Mr. & Mrs. Whisenant Sambo and Ruby McCandless the William Stretch family the Dillard family the McFadden family the W. E. Sheppard family the William Baxter family Miss Bertha Baxter the H. N. Lester family the Homer Jordan family the Will Neely family the Jeff Hanna Sr. family the R. B. Moorman family Mr. & Mrs. R. B. Warren the Standifer family the W. A. York family the J. B. Coleman family. The church purchased a building which was built in the 1870's and evidently was used as a school. They paid $25,000 for it and moved it onto land they had purchased. The second church building was built in 1888 and wings were added onto it in 1909. it sat on the same property the present building sits on. The present building was built in 1946 and additional classrooms were added in 1956 and front porch was added to the building in 1957. The church, according to what records are available, has had 38 pastors in its 149 years of history. The first one given is Elder G. W. Roberts who was pastor at the time John Henry Johnson was ordained on August 23, 1874. He was the first to be ordained by this church. In the early 70's came J. R. Sledge, V. G. Cummingham, Bro. Phipps, and then in 1884, John Henry Johnson became pastor. 1885 - Bro. Parks 1887 - E. Ward 1888 - W. H. Parks 1892 - J. C. Johnson 1893 - J. A. Schackelford 1896 - W. P. Green 1897 - B. N. Brooks 1899 - R. C. Madaris 1901 - J. T. Griffith 1905 - R. E. Smith 1910 - J. E. Boulet 1913 - T. W. Archer 1914 - B. F. Moon 1916 - S. W. Edge 1917 - W. A. Bryan 1921 - Clarence Brown 1922 - J. H. McLaughen 1923 - S. H. Maples 1924 - E. L. Moody 1925 - E. H. Owen 1927 - F. E. Kirshner 1934 - C. E. Poe 1938 - C. W. Sanders 1940 - M. B. Carroll 1942 - S. M. Mulkey 1942 - E. M. Howell 1943 - J. M. Jordan 1946 - Cecil McBeth 1953 - Gordon Bays 1958 - Roy Hill 1965 - Huron A. Polnac, Jr. 1968 - Gene Grace 1970 - Randall Scott 1973 - Richard Creech Richard Creech became pastor on August 12, 1973. Through his ministry the church has had many additional members. An extensive bus ministry has been carried out under his leadership. He and his wife, Jane, have placed great emphasis in ministry to the residents of the Geriatric Center. Due to the growing membership of the church, very extensive remodeling has been completed. We will celebrate the church's 150th anniversary in March of 2009. We welcome and appreciate any information, pictures, memorbilia, etc., that you might have. Please contact us at 254-435-6007 or fbcmeridian@sbcglobal.net. |