School Creek Baptist Church
Lampasas, Lampasas County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Named for a nearby stream, this church organized in 1879 and held its first worship service on November 2 of that year. A small schoolhouse close to School Creek was the first building to house the church. The Rev. L.R. Millican served as primary organizer and first pastor of the church. Members of the congregation in 1879 included Brothers Philip Smith, John W. Moore, Solan Mace, W.M. Wren, and J.I. Scott, and Sisters C.L. Smith, S. F. Moore, D. Mace, S.E. Wren, Harriet Holly, Rebecca Wilson, Sallie Mitchell, F.E. Scott, Wilson H. Hurst and Sally Hawkins. In 1900, plans began for construction of a church building, which was completed the next year on land donated by the Philip Smith family. Members built a tabernacle by 1920 and in 1956 converted it to an education building. The church added more buildings to its campus through the years, including a parsonage in 1947 and a multipurpose fellowship hall in 2005. School Creek Baptist Church has a history of ministry to children through its involvement in orphan homes, Sunday schools and Vacation Bible Schools. Historically, the church has supported mission work with such activities as organizing outreach programs and sponsoring youth mission trips. Members of the church have become licensed and ordained ministers, with many entering full-time mission work. Over a century after its founding, the church continues to provide a positive influence on lives in the Central Texas area and beyond. (2006)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
School Creek Baptist Church, named for a nearby stream, organized in 1879 and held its first service that November in a small schoolhouse, with the Rev. L.R. Millican as its founding pastor. The Philip Smith family donated land for a permanent sanctuary completed in 1901, and the congregation steadily added buildings over the next century. Long devoted to children's ministry and mission work, it remains an active presence in central Texas.
Why it matters
The church reflects how frontier congregations, born in one-room schoolhouses, became enduring anchors of rural Texas community life.
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Related people
- · Rev. L.R. Millican
- · Philip Smith
Themes & tags
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