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JERUSALEM BAPTIST CHURCH IN THE 1850s, MOST SLAVES HAD CONTACT WITH ORGANIZED CHRISTIAN CHURCHES AND AFTER EMANCIPATION A GREAT NUMBER OF AFRICAN AMERICANS BECAME BAPTIST BECAUSE THEY WERE FREE TO ESTABLISH THEIR OWN CHURCHES UNDER THEIR OWN GOVERNANCE. SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES HELPED AFRICAN AMERICANS IMPROVE AND CONTROL THEIR OWN LIVES. THE PRE-CIVIL WAR COMMUNITY OF EARPVILLE BECAME KNOWN AS THE JUNCTION WHEN THE INTERNATIONAL & GREAT NORTHERN RAILROAD CONNECTED WITH TEXAS AND PACIFIC TRACKS NEAR LONGVIEW IN 1872. DURING THE 1890s, A GROUP OF BLACK WORSHIPERS PURCHASED LAND IN THE JUNCTION ON THE BENJAMIN ESTATE. JERUSALEM BAPTIST CHURCH GREW OUT OF AN ORGANIZATION KNOWN AS THE CONSOLIDATED BROTHERHOOD WHICH WAS A NONDENOMINATIONAL LODGE WHERE GREGG COUNTY AFRICAN AMERICANS GATHERED TO HEAR LECTURES AND BIBLE STORIES. AS MEMBERSHIP GREW, THE ORIGINAL SANCTUARY WAS TORN DOWN AND REBUILT. TWO WINDOWS FROM THE ORIGINAL CHURCH WERE KEPT AND INCORPORATED INTO THE NEW AUDITORIUM AND ARE STILL A PART OF THE CHURCH. REV. R. B. BRADLEY BECAME THE FIRST FULL-TIME MINISTER IN SEPTEMBER 1942. UNDER HIS LEADERSHIP A PARSONAGE WAS ERECTED AND THE CHURCH ENLARGED. NATIONALLY-RECOGNIZED GOSPEL MINISTER REV. S. Y. NIXSON SERVED THE CHURCH DURING THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT. REV. NIXSON WAS A SPOKESPERSON FOR EQUALITY IN EDUCATION AND HELPED END SEGREGATION IN THE LONGVIEW PUBLIC SCHOOLS. DURING REV. NIXSON’S 29-YEAR TENURE, THE EDUCATIONAL ANNEX WAS BUILT AND THE AUDITORIUM WAS BRICKED AND AIR CONDITIONED. JERUSALEM BAPTIST CHURCH CONTINUES TO PROVIDE STABILITY AND SPIRITUAL STRENGTH IN THE AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY. |
