Pearl Baptist Church

Pearl Baptist Church. . This church was organized in 1884 under the guidance of the Rev. E. Berry, a pioneer area missionary and preacher. Originally located in the Bee House community (4 Mi. W), it was first known as the Bee House Missionary Baptist Church. Early worship services were held in the Masonic Lodge Hall that also served as the community schoolhouse., When the church relocated here in 1889, the congregational name was changed to Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist Church. The surrounding settlement was then known as Wayback, but later renamed Pearl. Early settler and rancher Charles T. Karnes sold three acres of his property to the church for their first sanctuary at this site. The small frame structure was used for worship services until 1949., The congregation met for church services on the fourth Sunday of each month until 1957, when its first fulltime pastor was secured. A tabernacle, built about 1908 on the boundary line between the Baptist and Methodist Church properties, has been the site of many revivals. Summer brush arbor meetings were held before construction of the tabernacle. For over a century the Pearl Baptist Church has played a significant role in the area's history.