The First Baptist Church at 220 W. Mitcham Street is celebrating its 130-year anniversary Sunday, Sept. 21, at 9 a.m. with lunch to follow. Pastor Jody Jones invites all past and present members and others to come and join this celebration.
A Brief History of the Church
The people of Malakoff worshipped together in the early 1850s. In 1844, Hezikiah Mitcham, a Methodist minister, led the people to build the First Methodist Church building in Henderson County. When the railroad was laid through Malakoff in 1880, the people moved in to be near the depot. The building was built facing the tracks. In 1884, the population and church attendance had increased. Because of difference in doctrine and beliefs, those of the Baptist persuasion pulled out and formed a Baptist Church.
The following story was told to a Mrs. Evans by her mother-in-law, Mrs. J.L. Evans, a charter member of the Baptist Church. After the Cotton Belt Railroad was constructed during the 1880s people began moving near the railroad and the new Methodist building was constructed just south of the present one, facing the railroad. All of the people continued to worship together for a time. In 1884, because of different beliefs the Pastor Hesikiah Mitcham asked all the Methodist believers to stand with him on one side of the building and those holding the Baptist belief to stand on the other side with Josiah Evans. Thus a Baptist congregation was established in the fall of that year.
The first building was erected on land owned by J.L. Evans. It was located on West Mitcham Street facing the railroad. W.C. Smith a lumber merchant donated the lumber and the members donated their labor.
The church was called the Missionary Baptist Church of Christ; the name was later changed to the Missionary Baptist Church and still later to First Baptist Church of Malakoff. The church immediately became an affiliate of the Texas and Southern Baptist Conventions. J.W. Jennings was pastor and W.C. Smith was clerk. Members was 36 and the property was valued at $150. By 1917 the church had grown from six charter members to 152. The Sunday school was organized in 1891 with George B. Thompson elected as superintendent.
The total budget for 1931 was $1,230.
The budget for 1994 was $224,633. Total receipts in 2000 was $439,725 and in 2004 total receipts reached $477,838. The budget for 2014 is $535,663.
On May 12, 1982 the church voted to build a new auditorium and to renovate the existing building for classrooms, a large kitchen and a fellowship hall. The groundbreaking ceremony was held on Aug. 29, 1982 to start the building of the new auditorium. Mrs. Roxie Robertson, the oldest living member in membership and age was to have turned the first spade of dirt, but was unable to do so because of illness. The pastor, Bill Rambo, did the honors. The building was completed in 1983, at a cost of $478,000.
During the time of Pastor Larry Blackman, who followed Pastor Bill Rambo, the present parking lot was laid and the education/fellowship hall was built.
In the 1990s, under Pastor Casey Perry, were years of emphasis on reaching people through evangelism and missions. The church became active in taking our youth to summer camp at Falls Creek, Okla., with 79 in 1993 to 250 attending in 2000. Our Sunday school flourished and a record of 360 was set on high attendance Sunday. O.R. Perdue was Sunday school superintendent at that time.
Troy Cates, Minister of Music & Education produced and directed the first live, action-packed Passion Play, presenting the Birth, Life, Death, Resurrection and ascension of Jesus, which was presented in three performances as a testimony to over a thousand attending. He was backed by his wife, Joy, the choir and many church members, who converted the auditorium to depict a biblical setting of that day. Approximately 200 church members worked tireless to make it a success; with the ladies making the costumes, and men constructing the set, the actors, soloist, and all that was behind the scene. This tradition was carried on for several years, by Andy Jackson, Ken Lasater and Tim Samples.
As far as we have records, the first mission of First Baptist Church, Malakoff was 1985 when the church voted to sponsor what is now First Baptist Church of Gun Barrel City and to guarantee the note for the land purchase where their church building would be built. Eight other sponsorships were done in the 1990s including two restarts. Of these eight new churches, only one did not last. On Easter of 2014 there were over 1,200 people who worshiped in these churches.
Other mission work was done with mission trips to South America led by John Ulrich. Other mission trips were in cooperation with the area and association leadership. One mission trip was led by Evangelist Rudy Hernandez in which the Sweet Assurance went on a mission trip to Cabo San Lucas and La Paz, Mexico. Another mission venture not often mentioned was that of Bill and Jeanie Self and the Volunteer Christian Builders. The First Baptist Church, Malakoff whole-heartedly supported them and the Volunteer Christian Builders; they were great missionaries for the church. The Self’s helped build over 250 church buildings in the United States and Canada. One of the last of their projects was the Christian’s Building built under Nathan Lorick’s pastoral leadership. Many hours of work was done by the Selfs. After Jeanie’s death on March 20, 2013, Bill gave a memorial gift for Jeanie Self, in the amount of $52,000 plus, that paid off the Children’s Building.
In the fall of 2000 First Baptist Church, Malakoff voted to affiliate with the Southern Baptist of Texas Convention. The SBTC is founded upon the truth of God’s Word and complete cooperation with the National Southern Baptist Convention. The church continued to grow under Pastor Robert Webb’s leadership in the early 2000s. Average worship attendance was reported by the Dogwood Trails Association to be over 300.
Nathan Lorick’s pastorate was an exciting one. Immediately worship attendance climbed to almost 400. In 2011 the average was reported to be 383. He also encouraged members to go on mission trips. It was reported that one year the church raised over $80,000 to fund these mission trips. It was under Pastor Lorick’s leadership that the children’s building soon became a testimony of sacrificially giving and participation on the part of the membership of the First Baptist Church of Malakoff.
Jody Jones was called as pastor in April of 2013 to carry on God’s plan for the church. He longs to see everyone in the church get involved in some area of serving the King. Discipleship is one of his main principles, teaching: Loving God, Loving People, and Making Discipleship. He is excited to come alongside a staff and be a part of a church that is willing to go anywhere to share Jesus.