PECAN BAPTIST CHURCH - 100 YEARS - Coke County, TX

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Submitted by Mary Love Berryman - marylove@tyler.net
20 Sep 2000
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The Observer/Enterprise, 3 Sep 1997, Robert Lee, TX

PECAN TO CELEBRATE 100TH YEAR

Pecan Baptist church, located 12 miles west of Robert Lee, will 
celebrate 100 years of existence on September 13-14 and invites 
everyone to attend.

The centennial celebration is set to begin at 10:00 am both Saturday
and Sunday and each day will include services, a catered meal and 
various entertainment related to Pecan's history.

Pecan is the only rural church organized in Coke County before the 
1900s that has remained in its original location.  A small number of 
Baptists met under an arbor on Pecan Creek in 1897 and organized 
Pecan Baptist Church.  Elders J. L. Simpson, G. C. Copeland and Isaac 
Reed (son of the Isaac Reed who helped organize the first Baptist
Church in Texas in 1835) acted as presbytery.

John Reed, a Pecan minister ordained in 1895, gave personal land for 
Pecan's first church home.  It was the Pecan School House, located
in Reed's pasture.  The nearby creek served as a baptistry, making
the location ideal.  Members worshiped there until 1904, then built
on the present site.  They built again in 1926 and later added on an 
annex.

Pecan held singing schools, Christmas programs, summer revivals, and
"dinners on the ground".  Couples also enjoyed climbing Green Mountain,
located directly behind the church.

Other communities have shared the gospel from Pecan's early missionary 
efforts.  Holding services monthly, Pecan "extended an arm: to Wild Cat
and Divide Union churches.

Pecan's ministers were J. L. Simpson, Isaac Reed, G. D. Copeland, J. B.
Denton, John Reed, Bro. Murdock, Bro. Brananham, Bro. Voiles, D. K. 
Smith, M. E. Watkins, J. H. Hallford, M. E. Patterson, Joe Yates, 
Charles Carroll, H. Scheanrock, John Hix, Billy McDorman, and current
pastor, Jimmy Rogers.

Rogers is a graduate of Texas Tech University at Lubbock.  He served
Pecan for two different periods, accumulating thirty-two years.  His
wife, Lola Beth, a talented musician, has assisted greatly in his
ministry.  They live in San Angelo, where he is a retired park 
superintendent and she, a retired English Teacher.  Coke county people
refer to him as "The Visiting Pastor" at the bedside of the sick, 
regardless of church affiliation.

From the time Pecan opened its doors, numerous capable and willing
members have been recruited to serve in capacities such as deacon,
pianist, song leader and teacher.

The public is encouraged to share in the memories and good times the
centennial will bring.

Permission granted by Enterpriser/Observer for publication in the
Coke County TXGenWeb Archives