Pruitt Lake church marks 101st birthday
Pruitt Lake Missionary Baptist Church, along state Highway 155 near Avinger, Texas, is more than a century old.
Its congregation sees to it that its porch light is always on.
At the church’s 101st birthday Aug. 13, everyone celebrated. But had a particular church member been there, the church would have truly had cause for rejoicing.
Charter member Minerva McKinney would have been well-past 100, and her long life had given her the rare privilege of living in three centuries.
She had been born in 1898 and died in 2002 at the age of 104. Everyone knew her. Always in attendance and clear in mind, she enjoyed talking about old times.
The church has several distinctive accomplishments. One of them is that the pastoring family, Ervin and Shirley Gould, has served now for 27 years.
The church atmosphere is very relaxed and steady. The most formal thing about it is that everyone is friendly.
During the homecoming service, all prayers were given by congregation members. Some songs were performed extemporaneously. That is, “unprepared but still ready,” music leader Gary Watson said. The offering was almost an afterthought, and the sermon was given by a former pastor who said he knew Baptists quit listening at noon.
“There sure is plenty of food waiting,” Paul Sowell kept saying.
Pastor Gould was even dressed in a U.S. Navy uniform. He was part of the Hughes Spring American Legion Honor Guard, which presented the flag to open the service. Also in their uniforms were Mike Jenkins for the Marines, Jerry Stoerner representing the Air Force and Harry Campbell representing the Army.
Without introduction, Rhonda Sue Meador rose to sing the national anthem unaccompanied.
The music was all homestyle, such as “Bringing In The Sheaves,” “Where Could I Go But To The Lord,” and “Showers of Blessings.” Only guitar and piano players Larry Cathy and Ricky Conn jazzed the service a bit with a bouncy rendition of “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus.”
The name Pruitt Lake Missionary Baptist refers more to a Pruitt Lake community that existed than about the lake itself. The church was formed in May 1917 with 17 members. Charter members had family names of McKinney, McCoy, Webster, Biddy, Bishop, Kirkland and Foster.
Church leaders wish they knew more accurately about their past, but all records from 1917 until 1945 were lost, and so some memories and assumptions have been made to fill in. The church has moved just once from an original one-room house near the Pruitt Cemetery on County Road 1581 to its large facility on Highway 155.
The church benefited in 1992 with the building of a new sanctuary. Except for the pouring of the slab, all labor was provided by Texas Mission Builders.
Memories from a number of interesting facts are mentioned in the church’s 100th anniversary program. One is about Wilmer Biddy. He served in the U.S Army in World War II, was awarded five bronze stars and a victory medal, landed at Normandy on D-Day and then fought in the Battle of the Bulge—the two biggest war events in Europe.
Former pastor Dr. J. W. Griffith authored several books and was an instructor at Texas Baptist Institute and Seminary in Henderson. Pastor Gould remembers him well.
“He was known as a teacher with few peers. If you sat in his Old Testament History class, he’d make you feel that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were right there in the room,” Gould wrote.
Former pastor Bobby L. Sparks was a recognized authority of the tabernacle of the Old Testament and known for his tabernacle lectures. He worked on scale models of the tabernacle and helped oversee a $17 million tabernacle project in Branson, Missouri.
Pruitt Lake Missionary Baptist seems to stand quietly with its porch light on. Its services are informal. But to those who attend, the experience might be an example of the saying, “still waters run deep.”