First Baptist Church of Kennard
Kennard, Houston County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In October 1903, approximately fourteen men and women organized the First Baptist Church of Kennard. The congregation selected four trustees: Dr. T.M. Sherman, George W. Willis, M.B. Matchett and Hugh P. English, who served the church in many capacities throughout his life. On October 23, the trustees purchased land upon which to build a one-room structure to be used as a place of worship. Kennard's First Baptist congregation held church services once or twice a month for several years, utilizing shared or traveling pastors. Members called the Rev. W.P. Lott in 1945. He served as the church's first full-time pastor but soon split his time between the Kennard congregation and one in nearby Ratcliff. During his years in Kennard, Lott's wife organized a Women's Missionary Union for the congregation. Over the years, the congregation has constructed new facilities and provided parsonage housing for its ministers. Throughout the 1960s, the church took an active role in campaigning against the sale of liquor and pari-mutuel horseracing. It maintained an active community presence in the 1970s, when it established a lay school of evangelism and began a local outreach program. As the congregation approached its centennial year, it continued to grow, strengthening its music and youth programs and creating a college scholarship fund. First Baptist Church remains an important religious institution in the community of Kennard. (2006)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
About fourteen men and women organized the First Baptist Church of Kennard in October 1903, quickly buying land and raising a one-room house of worship in this Houston County town. For decades the congregation made do with shared and circuit-riding pastors before calling the Rev. W.P. Lott as its first full-time minister in 1945. Through the twentieth century the church grew its facilities, campaigned against liquor and gambling, and built youth, music, and scholarship programs toward its centennial.
Why it matters
The congregation's long reliance on traveling preachers and its slow growth into a full-time church illustrate how rural Protestant communities sustained faith and moral life across the piney woods of East Texas.
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Related people
- · Rev. W.P. Lott
- · Hugh P. English
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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