Our Story.
Faith Baptist Church of Freeport, Texas is an Independent Baptist Church. Christ is our head, the Holy Ghost is our administrator and the King James Bible is our rule of faith and practice.
It was meeting in that little run-down house converted to a meeting place that the Faith Baptist Church was organized into an Independent Baptist Church on October 20th, 1977!
Bro. Blankenship resigned as pastor in January of 1978 and the new church was once again seeking a pastor to lead the congregation.
Several years later under the leadership of Bro. Thomas Beard the church commenced a building program to replace the little converted house they were meeting in. After raising the money through the selling of bonds the men of the church pitched in and on Monday and Tuesday evenings and all day on Saturday eventually the present building was suitable to move in. The church moved into the new facilities in April of 1981.
Faith Baptist Church's 40 years of ministry in the Brazosport area has touched the lives of hundreds of people. The church has benefited from those who have played a role in advancing God's kingdom through the church here. While there have been many who have come and gone, they each were here at a critical juncture and did their part to sustain the work in Freeport. Many of whom have had the opportunity to minister and to help along in their spiritual development have moved on and we are thankful for the part we were allowed to have in their lives. Only eternity will tell the extent of the impact made by Faith Baptist Church of Freeport.
Faith Baptist Church began as a mission out of the Twin Cities Baptist church in Temple Texas where Doyle Lawson was the pastor. There were several families in the Freeport, after visiting several churches in the area, decided it might be in their best interest to start an Independent Baptist Church in Freeport. That congregation of people began meeting in January of 1977.
Doyle Lawson's sister was a part of that group and it was determined that we needed to seek his counsel as to how to go about the process of starting a church in Freeport. Bro. Lawson made several trips to Freeport to preach for us and for counsel. It was the church that he pastored that provided the authority for beginning a mission work and ultimately a church in Freeport. it was through Bro. Lawson that the mission was put into contact with Bro. Eugene Blankenship as a potential candidate to pastor the mission work. Bro. Blankenship was called as the pastor of the new mission work on February 9, 1977 and arrived in Freeport on March 6, 1977. The first 10 months was a whirlwind of activity and change for the congregation.
During those first early months, the mission met in people's homes, what was then the music room at the Jane Long Elementary School, and on the second floor of what was then the First Freeport National Bank. After meeting in these places for several months the Lord gave us an opportunity to rent what had been Goutroux Laundry on West Park just off 2nd Street. Before the year was up our present location at the corner of 4th street and Velasco had been donated for the church's use. It was a corner lot with a very small in much need of replacing house that had been converted and used for years as a church meeting place by various groups, the first of which had been a Baptist congregation that eventually disbanded. Now after all those years a Baptist congregation was once again meeting on that corner and has for the last 40 years! It was also during this year that the church purchased a home to serve as the parsonage for men serving as pastor of the church.
Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
Ephesians 3:21
Our Mission
To preach the whole counsel of God's word
To present Christ crucified to our community
To support church planting around the world
To contend earnestly for the faith
Our Beliefs
Bible
We believe the Bible is the inspired word of God. It is a God-breathed book that was recorded by holy men of old as they were borne along by the Holy Ghost. We believe the words are inspired and not just the thoughts or ideas. We believe the Bible is the source of divine truth and, when rightly divided according to a historical/grammatical interpretation, it contains no error in its teachings. We further believe that God has preserved his word and the King James Bible is the preserved word of God for the English-speaking world. We reject other translations as having been translated from inferior texts.
Bible | God | Jesus Christ | Holy Ghost | Man | Salvation | Repentance and Faith | Church | Ordinances | Human Sexuality | Heaven and Hell | Last Things
Our Pastors
Pastor McEntire has been serving in the pastoral role for Faith Baptist Church since February 16, 1990. He grew up in a family that faithfully attended and were actively involved in church work. Some of his earliest memories are related to Sunday School and the two churches his family attended.
At the age of seven, after a evening service, he was troubled about his spiritual condition. Mentioning his difficulty to his mom he was led to the preacher, Bro. Phillips who took a King James bible and opened the scriptures to him. As he was confronted with being a sinner and in danger of judgment he, with child like faith, trusted the promise of God provided through the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. On November 5, 1970 that young boy was saved by the grace of God.
In 1977, at the age of thirteen, his parents were part of a small group of people who were instrumental in helping start an Independent Baptist Church in Freeport. They started meeting in January of that year and the church was organized as Faith Baptist Church on October 20, 1977. During that summer in the midst of a whirl of activity related to the starting of the new church the Lord began to deal with Pastor McEntire's heart about preaching the word of God. After several weeks of wrestling and uncertainty about what the Lord wanted, Pastor McEntire surrendered to the gospel ministry on July 3, 1977, at the age of 14 and preached his first sermon on August 17, 1977. Little did he know that he would eventually be pastoring the church that he was presently helping to start with his family and others.
Pastor James McEntire
Upon graduating from High School Pastor McEntire moved to Dallas, Texas where he attended the Independent Baptist College for one year. For the next seven and half years he was personally tutored, trained, and educated by P. D. Taylor Pastor of the Pleasant Valley Baptist Church Dallas, Texas. It was at Pleasant Valley under Bro. Taylor's leadership that Pastor McEntire developed his study habits, love for doctrine, commitment to bible truth, and had an opportunity to develop his ministry skills. Pastor McEntire had believed that he would be used of the Lord to start a church somewhere along the Texas Gulf Coast. His inclination in that direction was only partially correct.
At the end of 1989 Faith Baptist Church in Freeport Texas was again without a pastor. The church had contacted Pastor McEntire on two previous occasions when they were looking for a pastor to see if he would be interested in coming in view of accepting the pastorate there. Pastor McEntire declined on both occasions. This time however, while not contacted by Faith Baptist Church, he felt the clear leading of the Lord to pursue the possibility of pastoring in Freeport if it met with his current pastor's approval. With Pastor Taylor's approval he contacted the Faith Baptist Church and said that he would be interested in visiting in view of possibly pastoring the church. The church agreed to have him come. So, in January of 1990 Pastor McEntire and his young family traveled to Freeport for the weekend to discuss with the church the possibility of becoming pastor. On that Sunday evening after services the church voted 18 for, 0 against, 2 undecided for James McEntire to become the Pastor of Faith Baptist Church. He accepted the invitation to come as pastor that night and returned to Dallas to begin the transition to Freeport.
Pastor McEntire was ordained to the gospel ministry on February 10, 1990 by the authority of the Pleasant Valley Baptist Church Dallas, Texas. He and his family made the move to Freeport on February 16, 1990 at which time he assumed Pastoral responsibilities at the age of twenty-seven. For the past almost three decades Pastor McEntire has been faithfully leading the congregation in Freeport the church where he was called to preach as an adolescent in 1977.
Assistant
Pastor Caleb McEntire
Associate Pastor Caleb McEntire has been ministering in his role since May of 2013. He was raised in a Baptists Preacher’s home that took church and ministry seriously. He was blessed to have been raised in church being taught the Bible from his earliest years and shown a true example of Christian maturity by both his parents and those in the church.
At the age of six after having spent a week at a church camp in Arkansas he understood not just his need for Christ, but also in inability to ever earn his own salvation. His father showed him the gospel one Saturday night, both explaining and asking question to ensure that he understood his true spiritual condition. The Bible was opened, and verses clearly explained. Understanding the basics of sin, judgment, and the grace of God he repented of his sins and put his faith in the work of Christ to save him. On Saturday evening June 6th, 1991, kneeling by his parent’s bedside, he was saved from the wrath of God.
In 2000, at the age of 15 he began to feel the Lord working in his heart about the call to preach. There was short period of struggle as he was concerned about the Lord’s ability to take care of his people. But the Lord manifested himself in a real and powerful way over several months and with each prodding of the Lord more and more peace was gained as he more fully surrendered to the call to preach. After counseling and consultation with his Pastor the work of the Lord was not just solidified but also embraced. He made public his call on a Wednesday night after a church service during which a visiting preacher delivered a message ON the call to the ministry. Even this event, having the call to the ministry preached on unbeknownst to the man of God preaching, was used mightily in the heart of Pastor Caleb as confirmation for what had already been building in his heart.
He had already been ministering the Word in a very limited role and this continued. At age 17 he began teaching the boy’s Sunday School and ministered to the young men for 14 years before moving to other ministries. God allowed him to be used as the song leader for the church from the time he was 14 for the next 22 years before stepping aside from that role to focus more on his pastoral and administrative role.
When Pastor Caleb graduated high school, he immediately began training for the ministry under the authority of Faith Baptist Church. He spent the next 6 years being grounded in the truth under the tutelage of his Pastor. Under the direction of his pastor, he was trained in the finer points of preaching, study, and a love for the truth.
In 2013 the Faith Baptist Church was led of the Lord to ordain Pastor Caleb to the Gospel ministry and install him as the Associate Pastor of the Church, a role which he continues to this day. He ministers weekly in the Lord by conducting the mid-week service on Wednesday, as well as filling the pulpit for the pastor when he is out of town. He has always taken initiative to streamline and bring purpose and effectiveness to the church with a focus on the administrative and operational side. He serves in many areas of practical ministry from finance, social media, church website, sound system, building maintenance and security. He has made it his goal to observe areas of need and meet those seen and felt needs.
Pastor Caleb considers himself to be in ministry full time, but he pays his bills by working in industrial construction. He is joined in his ministry with the sacrifice of his wife Heather since 2005, and three daughters, all of whom sacrifice time spent with him as he works not only his secular job, but also as he dedicates his time on evenings and weekends to the work of the ministry.
Our Pastors over the years
Eugene Blankenship:
Jerry West:
Thomas Beard:
Bill Sutton:
John Hare:
Jeff McEntire:
James McEntire:
03/06/1997 - 01/22/1978
03/10/1978 - 12/31/1978
02/14/1979 - 07/04/1982
08/18/1982 - 08/18/1985
09/18/1985 - 08/31/1988
08/27/1989 - 12/27/1989
02/16/1990 - Present