By Charlene Carson

First Baptist Church of Salado Historian

The congregation of First Baptist Church of Salado celebrated its 160th anniversary Sunday, May 26, 2024 during the morning worship service.  A beautiful floral arrangement of red, yellow, and white carnations sat on the altar table.    The names of the 11 founding members were printed on the front cover of the church bulletin.   Their names are Jas. L. Smith, David F. Hair, Harvey Chamberlain, Mrs. Nannie D Reed, Mrs. Nellie Wemott, Mrs. Sarah Hanford, Miss Rachel Austin, Miss Eva Cockrill, Miss Mary L Cearnals, Miss Nannie Wilkinson, and Miss Sallie Wilkinson.

The service opened with the Sanctuary Choir, under the direction of Robert Pendergraft, majestically singing, O Come, Loud Anthems Let Us Sing.” 

During the service, former associate pastor, Scott Mescher, presented the history of the church  in time periods pointing out how God had blessed the church during each time period.  He began and ended each session by repeating the title of the hymn Great is Thy Faithfulness.  

“Fast forward… to a budding town along a creek known for its salty taste, Salado. TX.  Various Evangelical groups worshiped at Salado College, in a shared place, on a rotating schedule.  One group of Bible believing people, “resolved that we would take immediately the necessary steps for organizing ourselves into a church proper.”  And, in 1864, eleven people organized to form Salado Baptist Church of Christ establishing their identify with 20 Articles of Fatih… by the end of same year They called Elder WW Harris to be the first pastor.”

Great is thy Faithfulness.  

The presentation of the history of the church was followed by the singing of “Shall We Gather at The River.”  This beloved hymn was written in 1864, the year the church was founded.  This hymn was very appropriate since the church family has gathered hundreds of times during the past 160 years at the river, now known as Salado Creek, for baptismal services.

The morning message was delivered by the church’s pastor Bill Pinalto.  Pastor Bill presented five biblical observations about God’s faithfulness.  

Those observations are:

1. God’s faithfulness is rooted in His nature, not his mood. (Numbers 23:19; Malachi. 3:6; James. 1:17; Exodus 34:6; I Thessalonians 5:24)

2. God’s faithfulness in the past is meant to be remembered and rehearsed. (Psalms 143: 5; Psalms 77:11-15; I Samuel 12:24, 7:12)

3. God is presently faithful, even when we are not. II Timothy 2: 3, II Thessalonians 3:3,5) 

4. God’s future faithfulness is inevitable because He is eternal. (Deuteronomy 7:9, II Peter3:8, Psalms 117 1:1-2)

5. The fact of God’s past, present, and future faithfulness is most clearly demonstrated by the cross. (Hebrews 3:1-2, 5-6)

Some would say that the highlight of the service was the ringing of the church bell which was purchased in 1879.  The church bell was last rung 10 years ago in May 2014 during the 150th anniversary celebration of the church.  Each of the sixteen bell ringers for this special occasion represented a decade in the life of the church.  The bell ringers grade level or age and names are as follows:

12th Davis Graham

11th Anthony Angel 

10th Alina Lane

  9th Khiah Wickline 

8th Tate Teter 

7th John Mark Gearhart

6th Geneva Pendergraft

5th Natalie Truax

4th Jordan Mitchell

3rd Timothy Craing

2nd Emma Bates

1st Evelyn Mullins

Kinder – Henry Twilleager

4’s- Layton Unger

3’s- Warren Wheeler

2’s – Capri Johnson

Church records show that in June 1879, one year after the completion of the first church building, a committee was appointed to secure a bell for the new church.  O. T. Tyler served as committee chairman.

The bell, which is bell No. 7, was manufactured by The Goulds Mfg. Co. of Seneca Falls, N.Y.  This bell would hang in the cupola of the original church building for the next eighty-three years.  When the building was town down in 1962, the bell was put in storage.

In 1964, when the church built a bell tower memorial to former pastor George Washington Baines, the bell was hung in that tower.  In 1990, when the Baines bell tower was demolished to make way for construction of a new building, the bell once again was put in storage.  However, on April 23, 2004, during the 140th anniversary celebration of the church, the bell was placed on a new display tower.  The bell had found a new home.

As the church family celebrates 160 years of His faithfulness to the church, in and through the lives of the members, it is our prayer that we continue to keep our eyes open, and our ears alert to see and hear what God does next in the life of First Baptist Church of Salado to show us and the world…Great is They Faithfulness.