Thursday, April 25, 2024
Pecan Grove Baptist Church will be having a 140th anniversary celebration on Sunday, Oct. 2, at 10:45 a.m. The special guest speaker will be Dr. O.S. Hawkins, the president and CEO of Guidestone Financial Services. The special music leader will be Nathan Cook of Waco along with a special pianist, Dodie Morris, also of Waco.
The small community church of Pecan Grove is nestled among towering pecan and oak trees on the banks of Coryell Creek and has been a distinctive location in the religious life of Coryell County for 140 years.
The church, first known as the Coryell Creek Baptist Church, was organized in 1882 with Monroe M. Smith, James M. Davidson, Sr., Cordelia Beaty, Joe and Martha Alsup, and a Mr. Smith as charter members. The Davidson name has been on the church roll ever since – generation after generation.
The first pastor of the church was John Harding. A. J. Armstrong served as pastor from 1912 to 1922, the longest tenure of any of the church’s ministers.
For 47 years, the congregation met regularly at the Blackfoot and Davidson schools, a mile or so from the present church, and at annual brush arbor meetings at Pecan Grove on the west side of Coryell Creek. In 1903, the congregation built a tabernacle on the east side of Coryell Creek on two acres of land donated by Frank M. Martin. In 1929, during the pastorate of a promising young minister named W.A. Criswell, changes were made.
Criswell, a Baylor University student who was to become one of the Southern Baptist denomination’s most effective voices and for years pastored the First Baptist Church in Dallas, led the Coryell Creek Baptists in a building program that resulted in the erection of the present church structure. One of the community’s pioneers, Charlotte “Lottie” Davidson, spaded the first shovel of dirt at the ground-breaking ceremony in October 1929.
With the new building, the church took on a new name, that of Pecan Grove Baptist Church.
During its first 100 years, the church had 41 pastors, most of whom were students at Baylor University or Southwestern Baptist Seminary. In 1995, long-time church member, Inez Martin, mentioned her association with the church.
“My mama took me to the church for the first time when I was two weeks old,” said Martin. “I’ve been attending since. I haven’t missed many sermons. I remember before the sanctuary was built, we met in the tabernacle by the light of gasoline torches,” she said.
In May 1995, a historical marker was placed on the property by the Coryell County Historical Commission. Jeff Huckeby is the current pastor of Pecan Grove Baptist Church. For those wishing to attend the 140th anniversary of the church, it is located at 6545 FM 107.
