First Baptist Church of Raymondville
Raymondville, Willacy County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This congregation traces its history to 1907, when services were held in a two-story home on 7th Street shared with other denominations. The First Baptist Church was officially organized in 1914. The members built a wooden structure on this site, and the Rev. S. F. Baucum and the Rev. E. L. Phipps were appointed ministers. The Sunday School was organized in 1921; Training Union and the Woman's Missionary Union were begun in 1922. Missionary programs were a focus for the First Baptist Church congregation, which established missions in 1927, 1936, and 1938 to serve area Hispanic and African American citizens. A ground breaking ceremony for a new sanctuary was held in 1944, and the first worship service was hald in the new facility on May 15, 1949. In 1953, First Baptist Church members established a mission which became the Wood Avenue Baptist Church; it later merged with the founding congregation. A Sunday morning radio ministry was begun on November 13, 1959. Throughout its history, the First Baptist Church of Raymondville has served the community with a variety of worship, educational, and outreach programs. (1992)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Rooted in a shared two-story home on 7th Street in 1907, this Baptist congregation formally organized in 1914 and raised its first wooden sanctuary on this South Texas site. Through the 1920s and beyond it built out Sunday School, a Training Union, and a Woman's Missionary Union, and it deliberately planted missions in 1927, 1936, and 1938 to serve the area's Hispanic and African American residents. A new sanctuary opened in 1949, and a Sunday radio ministry followed in 1959.
Why it matters
The church tracks the growth of a Rio Grande Valley farming town and reflects how local congregations, through missions and outreach, wove themselves into the everyday civic and social life of early-20th-century Texas.
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Related people
- · Rev. S. F. Baucum
- · Rev. E. L. Phipps
Themes & tags
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