First Baptist Church of Devine
Devine, Medina County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This congregation, founded in 1882 by the Rev. D. Johnson, the Rev. C.B. Hukill, and 35 charter members, was the first church organized in Devine. The congregation met under a prominent oak tree in town and in a local school building before erecting a sanctuary about 1890. A second sanctuary was constructed in 1912 and a third was built at this site in 1951. Devine's Calvary Baptist and Bethania Baptist Churches began as missions of this congregation. Past guest speakers include former Texas Governor Thomas M. Campbell and several former Presidents of Baylor University. 1993
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Founded in 1882 by two ministers and thirty-five charter members, this was the first congregation organized in the young town of Devine. Its members first gathered under a prominent oak and in a schoolhouse before raising a sanctuary around 1890, replacing it in 1912 and again in 1951. The church seeded two others as missions and, over the years, welcomed notable visitors including a former Texas governor and several Baylor University presidents.
Why it matters
As the first church in Devine, the congregation illustrates how frontier settlements coalesced around their earliest houses of worship, which served as the social as well as spiritual heart of new towns.
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Nearby & related markers
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