BRIEF HISTORY OF FBC ELM MOTT

 The seeds for our church were planted during the summer of 1870. A small group organized the first church in this area, White Rock Church, and a few years later (1876) built the first building—a school house that also doubled as the church. This church encompassed a growing area of two communities, and—when the building unfortunately burned in 1878--many in the community decided to start meeting closer to homes.  They called their church “Union Grove,” and it was officially organized on July 17, 1879. A few years later, the church changed its name to “Geneva,” and then to Elm Mott Baptist Church in 1897.

 We started small—just a few families in 1880. We didn’t surpass 100 members until the 1930s, which was a booming decade for the church. In 1930 we had 120 members, but by 1935 we had 194 members—the highest number of members ever for us (as far as I can tell). In 1933 we had record-breaking Sunday School attendance, with 126 people on July 23, 1933, and one year later we broke Sunday School records again with 176 on July 8, 1934. And during the 1930s we hosted three very successful revival meetings, which were all led by the preaching evangelist Mrs. Lewis Ball of Houston and included the largest congregation we have records. The church business meeting notes that Mrs. Lewis Ball was “an exceptionally successful soulwinner” and a “great inspiration to the young people.”

 Unfortunately the impact of WWII and changing economic circumstances adversely affected our community. But we were still able to build our third church building in 1954—which is the building we share today, under the pastorate of Joe West. It is during this time we officially changed our name from Elm Mott Baptist Church to First Baptist Church of Elm Mott.

 We have always been a small church, even during the booming years of the 1930s. But we have also been a very connected church within our community. We work well with fellow Christians in our community, sharing space and cooperating in ministry with other local churches and Tri-Cities Ministries.

 We have also had a strong connection with Baylor University and, more recently, with Truett Seminary. Indeed, if you read the names of famous folk who have preached at our church, it sounds an awful lot like reading the street names and buildings of Baylor Campus—From Governor Pat M. Neff to B. H. Carroll to R.C. Burleson to J.B. Tidwell to even W. B. Bagby. Many of our staff members have come from Baylor and Truett Seminary, and we continue to host Steppin’ Out twice a year where we partner with Baylor students in doing service projects at home throughout Elm Mott.

 In recent years we have survived embezzlement of church funds in 2019 and COVID just six months later. Though we are smaller today than we were a few years ago, God has shown time and time again that he’s not done with First Baptist Elm Mott. A faithful few have worked hard to rebuild our ministries.

The trend in American churches in for big churches to get bigger and small churches to get smaller and die. This leaves smaller, lower-resourced communities with no healthy churches. We are praying and working hard to reverse that trend. We believe local churches that are planted and invested in their local community are essential. We don’t have the nicest facilities, the biggest programs, or the coolest worship team (though they are pretty cool!), but we do have people that love God, their neighbors, and their communtiy well. If you live nearby, we encourage you to check us out and get involved in a church that gives back to your community. Join us in building up this little corner of God’s Kingdom in Elm Mott!