History

First Baptist Church
     has a long history rooted deep in the heart of Texas

The first church building was a small frame structure
located at Marienfeld and Illinois, and it was shared
with Methodist, Presbyterian and Christian congre-
gations. In 1892, during the ministry of the second
pastor, Rev. Le-
ander Millican or
"Brother Lallie", the
building was moved
to North Main and Illinois.
Brother Lallie was one of
the cowboy preachers of
the day, living and working
with ranchers and cowboys
as part of his ministry. He
preached without a salary and carried a Bible in one saddle bag and a six-shooter in the other. During his ministry, the church organized its first regular weekly Sunday School. The Paisano Baptist Encampment near Alpine also came into existence under his leadership.

G. H. M. Wilson served the church as pastor from 1894-1895, and again from September 1896 to January 1900; in his second tenure, he became First Baptist's first full-time pastor. In the year 1901-1902, the church adopted a total budget of $1,650.00. The church building was expanded in 1914; the famous evangelist Mordecai Ham conducted a revival in the church a few years later in this building.

The first oil well to produce abundantly in West Texas, the Santa Rita Number 1, blew in on May 28, 1923. The town of Midland almost doubled in growth every decade after, so that there were 9,000 inhabitants in 1940; 21,000 in 1950; and 62,000 in 1960. The present population is over 99,000. In 1942, Vernon Yearby became pastor of First Baptist at 28 years of age. In 1945, Nellivee Clark came to our church as assistant church secretary; a short time later, she became church secretary. She served as pastor's secretary for 30 years and after serving a total of 45 years she retired in 1994.

In 1954, the church moved to its present location, and later that year Dr. L. L. Morriss came as pastor. He preached his first sermon as pastor on the first Sunday of worship in the new building.  In March of 1976, the church called Dr. Daniel Vestal to its pulpit. In July of 1989, Dr. James Denison became pastor until 1994. Dr. Gary Dyer followed in June of 1995 and served until April of 2010.

First Baptist Church has been served by eighteen pastors in her history:

S. B. Callaway (1886-87)
L. R. Millican (1887-94)
G. H. M. Wilson (1984-95)
B. W. N. Simms (1895-96)
G. H. M. Wilson (1896-1900)
J. C. Burkett (1900-12)
U. S. Thomas (1912-13)
L. E. Finney (1913-14)
R. E. Quick (1915-17)
O. J. Hull (1918-22)
W. S. Garnett (1923-24)
George F. Brown (1925-31)
Winston Borum (1931-38)
H. D. Bruce (1938-42)
Vernon Yearby (1942-53)
L. L Morriss (1954-75)
Daniel Vestal (1975-88)
James Denison (1988-1994)
Gary Dyer (1995 -2010)

The mission of First Baptist Church, Midland has remained constant across more than a century: The city and the world for Christ.

top...