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First Baptist Carrollton celebrates 100 years
By Senitra Horbrook, shorbrook@acnpapers.com
On December 16, 1909, 13 people organized a Baptist church in Carrollton. One hundred years later, that same church has about 4,000 members.
“We do not view this church as our church. Even though it’s First Baptist Carrollton, we don’t view it as the city’s church. We view this as God’s church,” said Dr. Brent Taylor, who has been senior pastor for the past 10 years. “Whatever he wants to do in this church is up to him, and that has been our thought and our belief all along.”
The congregation of First Baptist Carrollton gathered last Wednesday to celebrate the church’s 100th birthday and accept a historical marker from the city of Carrollton. The marker will be permanently fixed outside the church building within the next week or two.
Church member Sara Salmon is also a member of Carrollton’s Historic Preservation Advisory Committee, and she brought up the idea of a marker.
“She said ‘Hey, I’d love for us to talk with HPAC and go through the process of seeing about having a marker being given to the church in honor of the 100th anniversary,’” Taylor said.
The process of approving the marker took about 18 months. The city council voted to approve the marker in July. Unlike many historical markers which are for buildings, First Baptist’s marker is for its congregation.
“No matter where our congregation meets, as long as we’re in the city of Carrollton, the marker goes with us,” Taylor said.
During the 100th anniversary celebration last Wednesday, the church received a special missions offering as a tribute to the 13 founders who collected $8.10 to support missions locally and around the world on the very first Sunday they met.
“I always tell the new members of our church that missions is in the DNA of our church,” Taylor said. “From day one, it’s always been a part of who we are as a congregation.”
A building on Erie Street close to downtown Carrollton served as the church base from 1910 to 1986, when the church moved to its current sanctuary on Josey Lane. The church has had 28 pastors over 100 years, but the past three pastors make up 54 of those years, including Fred A. White from 1955 to 1965, Wayne L. Allen from 1965-1999 and Taylor since 1999. The church currently has two attendees whose membership dates back to the 1930s. Beck James has been a member since Feb. 12, 1931, and Frances Price since Feb. 12, 1939.
“A lot of our history is tied to buildings,” Taylor said. “As a church we’re grateful for all the buildings …but the history of our church is not made up of buildings. It’s been made up of God’s people being faithful to him for 100 years.”
Taylor said community outreach has been important to First Baptist Carrollton since its beginnings.
“We believe that there are two things Jesus tell us we’re to do – love God and love people,” Taylor said. “We feel like the best way we can demonstrate the love of God to our community is by serving our community and looking for opportunities to help people.”
The church works closely with Central Elementary School in Carrollton, recently collecting coats and hosting a free medical clinic. The church has also collected flashlights for Senior Adult Services and donated 136 boxes of food to the Angel Food Ministry.
The church’s current emphasis is on its sports ministry complex, currently under construction at Carrollton Parkway and SH 121 Bypass. The complex will contain two lighted baseball fields, two lighted soccer fields, a walking track, volleyball courts, two playgrounds and a fountain area that kids can play in. The complex is expected to be completed in 2010.
“It’s been built and designed with families and kids in mind,” Taylor said. “We want to be a place where the community feels like they can come out and have a great time with their family and enjoy watching their kids play on a team or they themselves play as adults.”
The church bought the property in far north Carrollton in 2001, but has not built on it until this point.
“God led us to that piece of land,” Taylor said. “The future plan is to one day have our complete complex out there, but I don’t know when that’s going to happen.”
The church emphasizes spiritual growth, calling it “Lifestyle Christianity,” where members of the church blend their faith into everyday life. Although its membership totals around 4,000, Taylor said it’s the relationships people make that keep them connected.
“We encourage everybody in our church to get connected into a small group, a Sunday school class. If people will get connected there, they will begin to build relationships and those relationships are really what matter,” Taylor said. “You can go to any church, anywhere and you can find preaching and singing … but I believe our people are very friendly and I believe it’s a place where people can make friends and not just find friendly people.”
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