First Baptist Church of Josephine Bell - Josephine, TX
N 33° 03.813 W 096° 18.612
14S E 751127 N 3661548
The bell from the original First Baptist Church of Josephine (c. 1890) is part of a display near the entrance to the current church at 310 S Main St, Josephine, TX.
Waymark Code: WMNYN4
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 05/25/2015
Views: 1
The bell is plain, without any markings, and it wouldn't have much of a story if the Texas Historical Marker wasn't here:
In 1888, Mr. and Mrs. Sam Tarrant recruited several local families to meet with Baptist missionary Rev. Petty at the Reed's Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church school house to organize a Baptist congregation. W.M. Wolfe served as the church's first pastor. That summer, Henry Money conducted a revival meeting under a brush arbor that attracted 27 new members. For several years, church services were conducted at the school house. Around 1890, the congregation built a wooden sanctuary with a vestibule and bell tower. In 1911, Rev. Money dedicated the congregation's new three-story, brick-clad sanctuary. The new sanctuary had curved wooden pews with end carvings, dark wood walls and stained glass windows. In the 1920s, an annex and a tabernacle were added to the church complex.
The dirt-floor tabernacle hosted two-week long revival meetings, complete with piano accompaniment. Ella Smith served as the church organist for more than seventy years. In the 1930s and 1940s, Josephine churches held services on alternative Sundays, which allowed congregants to visit each other's churches after Sunday school. The church provided temporary high school classrooms in the 1936-37 school year when the Josephine school was rebuilt. On July 12, 1964, the congregation dedicated its new sanctuary, designed by Dallas architect Adam Bliss. A brick parsonage was added in 1966. The church bell from the first church and the stained glass windows from the 1911 church were preserved in a display on the lawn.
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