The First Baptist Church of DeQueen, Arkansas was organized in July 1895 at the Friendship School, which was located some two miles north of the city. Although the actual date of organization is unknown, it is known that the church had eighteen charter members. Reverend Columbus Wardlow was called as the first pastor of the church and he served the needs of the church with the assistance of four deacons.
In April 1897, Reverend William Todd gave the church a piece of land inside the city limits of DeQueen upon which the church would build the first building. This building, a wooden structure, was built by the contributors of the members and some of the citizens of DeQueen. The structure was completed in April 1898 at 321 West Gilson, what is now the Legacy Center, and this is when the church took the name, First Baptist Church of DeQueen. Two interesting facts about the construction of this build were that the man for whom the city was names, Mr. Jan deGoijen, gave $100.00 to the building fund and that upon completion of construction, the structure was completely debt-free.
When the church was founded, it was a Missionary Baptist congregation. In 1908, the church voted to affiliate with the Southern Baptist Convention. From the beginning the church has been concerned with growth and grow it did! By 1926, there were between 300 and 400 members. One of the old annual reports from the year 1911 records that in that year the church even had a six-piece orchestra which regularly accompanied the services. Included in the group were a clarinet, a cornet, a violin and a bass fiddle.
As the church congregation continued to grow, the need for additional space was addressed. In 1926, construction was begun on a new church building to replace the original structure. The educational space was completed in 1928, but with the reality of the Great Depression, the auditorium construction was delayed. For a number of years, there was only a vacant concrete slab, but the church never gave up on their plans to build the auditorium. As work on the auditorium was being done, the congregation met in the second story of the DeQueen Bee building.
As the nation overcame the Depression and entered into World War II, the resolve to build grew once again. People began to give generously and even those who were in the Armed Forces sent home portions of their paychecks for the auditorium construction.
In 1949, the goal was reached and the church dedicated the newly constructed auditorium. The pastor was Reverend Lawson Hatfield, who, with his family, had come to DeQueen for Ashdown.
In the coming years, First Baptist Church was recognized in the Arkansas State Convention for its rapid growth. Blessed with a larger congregation, the church once again faced the need for space. In 1964, under the leadership of Dr. E. Butler Abington, the church constructed an education building on the east side of the main building.
In 1966, an energetic pastor from Texas came to lead the church. Reverend Joe Denton immediately became not only the First Baptist pastor, but the ‘community pastor’ as well. He was affectionately known by the community as ‘Brother Joe.’ Under his leadership, the church bought several pieces of property in close proximity to the church. One of those purchases was Dierks Lumber Company Clinic.
Upon his retirement, Joe Denton was named Pastor Emeritus of First Baptist Church. He and his family remained in DeQueen where, until his death, he was a community pastor.
In 1977, the church called an energetic young seminary graduate to be their pastor. Nick Garland led the church into significant growth and in two transitions that have had a profound impact on the church’s ministry. One was the formation of the Church Council which leads in the ministry and business decisions of the church and secondly, the organizations of the deacon body as a ministry team that minister to the church family through the Deacon Family Ministry Plan.
Nick Garland and his family left DeQueen in 1980 to become the pastor of the Second Baptist Church in Hot Springs. Today, he is the Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, one of the fastest growing and largest Southern Baptist churches in the state.
In 1981, the church called Victor Gore to be their pastor. He had been serving on the staff of a Texarkana church in the area of evangelism. Under Victor Gore’s leadership, the church staff expanded to three full-time staff members and the church voted to purchase a 25 acre plot of land, west of the city limits, for future expansion. This property had once been the site of a Bible camp and today is the church present home.
Victor Gore and his family left DeQueen in April 1988 to move to Mount Vernon, Texas, where he would be the pastor of the First Baptist Church there.
In the interim period, the church made a significant missions decision. Although the Hispanic population of DeQueen was rapidly growing, there was no evangelical, Baptist witness to them. The church voted to begin such a work and named it, Iglesia San Juan Bautista. The mission church is now named, Iglesia Bautista Emmanuel and through the efforts of the former pastor Pete Nunez and the interim pastor Aurelio Hernandez, is a growing witness to the Hispanic population. From this mission, the Angel Martinez Baptist Theological Training Center was birthed. This training center offers a theological education for Hispanic pastors and lay people in the four states area.
On January 1, 1989, Reverend Faron Rogers was called to be the twenty-eighth pastor of the First Baptist Church. Reverend Rogers and his family came to the church from the First Baptist Church of Pocahontas, Arkansas.
In 1989, the church began an active youth program under the leadership of Ron Paul, the Minister to Music and Youth. The church also created a ministry to the homebound members and a television ministry which televises the church worship services on the local cable outlet. The church was recognized four times in the 1990s as one of the top twenty-five churches in baptisms among the Arkansas Baptist State Convention.
In 2002, after a 12 year building project, First Baptist Church moved their congregation to its new home at 1535 West Collin Raye Drive. The first service was held on the Sunday before Christmas 2002. The new facility includes a 650 seat worship center, educational space for 550 Bible students of all ages, a playground, and a recreation area.
Faron moved from DeQueen, Arkansas First Baptist Church on October 24, 2004 after he had pastored for over 15 years. Faron was called to a church in El Dorado, Arkansas in September of 2007.
In 2006, Pastor Charles Hebert was called to be the new pastor of First Baptist Church. Now, under Pastor Charles’ leadership, the church is expanding once again. Construction is underway on the 5000 sqft. expansion of our east education wing. This new space will provide additional Sunday School rooms for children, youth and adults along with an expanded choir rehearsal room and enlarged office work area. These multipurpose rooms will also provide an indoor recreation area for over 30 preschoolers who attend our WEE Center, along with a gathering place for Students on Wednesday nights, and an office for a minister of education.
Since there has been a city of DeQueen, there has been a First Baptist Church to minister to the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of its people. Throughout the years, the ministry of this church has not only reached our community, but our state and our world. And today, it is known for its warm fellowship and its progressive ministry throughout the community and the state.