About

A HISTORY OF OUR CHURCH

First Baptist Church of Rockport was organized in 1873 and located in a frame building on South Church Street. Known charter members include Mr. Jim Doughty, Mr. Baylor, Mr. & Mrs. Dave Scrivner, and Mrs. Melinda Oertling. All records were lost when this building was destroyed by the 1919 Hurricane.

A second building was constructed at the corner of Main and Live Oak Streets, using some of the materials salvaged from the original building. A small education building was later added to the east side of the auditorium. This building was removed and donated to the Bethel Baptist Mission when a new education building was constructed in 1956.

The auditorium located at 901 Main Street was constructed in 1959. The building housed offices, nursery, and some education facilities. This building sustained heavy damage in Hurricane Celia (1970), but insurance coverage was adequate and the building and its contents were restored by the end of the year. The church continued to worship in the auditorium as it was being repaired, using a discarded football field cover (from Baylor University) as a temporary roof.

By the end of 1970, the church had acquired the entire block bounded by Main, Live Oak, Wharf, and Magnolia Streets. On May 9, 1976 the church broke ground for a new two-story education building located at the corner of Wharf and Magnolia Streets. The building project also included remodeling of the existing education building.

 A parsonage was bought in 1944, and was sold a few years later. Another parsonage was built at the corner of South Church and Main streets. In 1970 this parsonage was traded in on the purchase of a large and lovely house at 705 Pine Street. In December 1980 the church voted to give this parsonage to their pastor, Brother Charles F. Fake, as an expression of love and esteem for his many years of faithful service.

The church continued to grow and in 1991 purchased a building across the street at 901 Main Street for office space. This move allowed for more classrooms in the Preschool area, making it possible for the entire Preschool Department to be housed in the same building.

Our area is one of the fastest growing in Texas. The continued growth of our church placed a strain on the existing facilities. Space was not available to create or expand Sunday School classes and departments and our church family knew that we must move to a larger site. On March 17, 1999 the church voted to build on property purchased in 1982 at the corner of Live Oak Street and Enterprise Boulevard. On June 4, 2000 a Ground Breaking Ceremony was held for our new facilities. Sunday, March 10, 2002, the first worship services were held in the new facilities at 1515 North Live Oak Street.

An accurate chronological listing of our pastors is impossible due to the loss of records. Elder L. D. Young was the first pastor in 1873. These men pastored here, but we could not find the date: H. C. Williams, Bates, Dullin, Grover Lewis, Paine, J. B. Adams, G. H. Coulson, R. T. Yates, and J. W. Collins. Other pastors with the dates they began their ministries here are:

T. Christmas (1875)
A. H. Barber (1877)
Amos Rook (1880)
G. H. M. Wilson (1883)
D. A. Wilson (1884)
Amos Rook (1887)
J. S. Thomas (1888)
S. B. McJunkin (1890)
J. O. Green (1895)
J. McDermid (1897)
R. L. Pearce (1898)
W. T. Sanders (1901)
T. J. Hanot (1902)
W. T. Harrot (1903)
V. V. Youngblood (1907)
W. A. Myers (1908)
F. A. R. Morgan (1911)
J. A. Howard (1916)
L. S. Darling (1919?)
W. A North (1921)
S. B. Kimball (1928)
William Crook (1930)
James Stanley (1940)
E. J. Myers (1943)
C. N. Jones (1946)
Truett Cunningham (1947)
Walter Crabb (1950-1951)
Bradford Ramsey (1951-1954)
W. D. Broadway (1955-1957)
C. Wilson Brumley (1957-1964)
Charles Fake (1964-1996)
James Bond, Interim (1996-1997)
Walter Knight (1997- 2006)
Charles Fake, Interim (2006- 2008
Scott Jones (2008 - present).