At 150, this historic Fort Worth church is falling apart. Can it be saved?
Pastor Lorenzo Jones stood in a tub of water in his white pulpit gown.
His usual pulpit spot was changed this Sunday morning at Mount Gilead Baptist Church. He stood a few feet higher than the chorus chairs behind the pulpit.
Standing next to him in the indoor baptismal was Iran Dean, also in a white gown and wearing a white bonnet to cover his dreadlocks. The congregation of about 20 people frantically waved hand fans and watched as Jones performed the baptism.
"I baptize this brother, upon the profession of his family, in the name of the father, in the name of the son, in the name of the holy ghost," Jones said, and placed a hand on Dean's back to submerge him a few seconds into the water.
The crowd clapped and praised God as a new man entered into his new relationship with God.
Last month, the church at 600 Grove St. landed on Historic Fort Worth's list of 2025 Most Endangered Places . Historic Fort Worth, a nonprofit dedicated to celebrating and preserving the city's architectural heritage, uses the the list to draw attention to historic places in need of restoration or preservation. The buildings recognized have generally been threatened by a lack of maintenance, loss of parking and a lack of awareness by the owners of economic incentives available to rehabilitate historic buildings.
The church sits off Fifth Street, at the entrance to Spur 280 in downtown Fort Worth. At 150 years old, it is Fort Worth's oldest African American Baptist church. The neoclassic, red brick building with six large columns has a distinctive raised basement and stained glass dome. Historic Fort Worth describes the building as "an enduring symbol of community and faith."
But paint is peeling from its walls, the building lacks air conditioning, and membership has dwindled.
Jones has been the pastor of Mount Gilead for six years. He continues to learn about its history and is working to preserve a church whose impact in Fort Worth and the Black community cannot be forgotten.
"This was the Black area," Jones told the Star Telegram. "This is the last thing standing … representing that era that's still an established institution in the downtown Fort Worth area."
History of Mount Gilead Baptist Church
Mount Gilead Baptist Church was founded by 12 formerly enslaved people in September 1875. The first building was in a Black settlement called "Baptist Hill" near 15th and Crump streets.
The area along Jones and Grove streets was a thriving community with Black-owned hotels, a pharmacy, a barbershop and other businesses.
A second structure was built at 13th Avenue and Jones Street in 1882-83 under the leadership of the Rev. S.H. Smith.
In 1911, the Rev. Lacy Kirk Williams gathered support from the congregation for his vision of a 4,800-square-foot church at East Fifth Street and Grove Street, where it stands today. The building was designed by Black architect Wallace Rayfield and was completed in 1912. It included a library, cafeteria, pipe organ, an indoor baptismal, a day nursery, an indoor pool, a kindergarten and opera chairs in the balcony.
In 1979, the Rev. Cedric Britt, 26, became the youngest pastor in Mount Gilead Baptist history and served until his death in 2009. After Britt's death, Jonathan Adams became pastor, but he left in August 2015 and Patrick Rucker assumed the preaching duties after Adams left.
Rucker tried to sell the Mount Gilead property to Paradox Church for $2.5 million in 2015, but members of the church were against it the plan. Rucker saw church membership and finances were in a decline, the church had no insurance, that paint was peeling off the walls, the air conditioner barely worked and the building had been invaded by mold, he testified in a 2016 hearing after church members filed a restraining order to stop its sale . A judge ruled in their favor.
Mount Gilead's future
Jones grew up in Arkansas where his father was a minister. He saw the sacrifices his father made by preparing sermons, running the church like a business and being a counselor and spiritual leader.
It wasn't until 2014, when his newborn daughter had a health scare, that he decided to become a minister.
"I know what God's called me to do," he told his wife.
He gave his first sermon in 2015 at Greater Friendship Missionary Baptist Church just northeast of downtown Fort Worth. In December 2017, he served as a guest preacher at Mount Gilead following a recommendation from Pastor Parish Lowery. He became the church's pastor in 2019.
The deterioration of the church and the congregation has triggered fear for the future of Mount Gilead. The building lacks parking, the air conditioning will cost thousands to replace and the structure is not compliant with the Americans Disabilities Act - people in wheelchairs are carried up the steps.
Sitting at the edge of downtown, the church is a visible outlier of what the city once was.
"I think that Fort Worth has grown up around this church, but the church did not grow around downtown Fort Worth," Jones said.
Delories McGhee has been a member of Mount Gilead since 1983, drawn by its welcoming congregation and Gospel music.
She wants Mount Gilead to be a church that works in the community, with a Bible study, a food pantry and members serving meals. She hopes the church will be able to find funding or grants to repair what they need and have access to God's word for more than a few hours on Sunday morning.
"If we have to shut down the building itself, it would be a loss of very rich Back American history in downtown Fort Worth," McGhee said.
Xavier Clark has been a member of Mount Gilead for almost six years. He has spoken with church leaders about the next steps for its future. While some have been divided between preserving the congregation or the building itself, Clark wants to make sure there is something to leave for the children who will come after them.
"I just know that we have to do something, and it has to be done because I've watched it deteriorate and I don't want it to deteriorate where there's no more Mount Gilead ever," Clark said.
Jones reached out to Historic Fort Worth to get the church on the Endangered Places list.
He says his priority is to spread the Gospel and help the people of the church. Knowing that members who want to preserve the church are getting old and may not be able to do it by themselves, he wants to open conversations on how to preserve the historic integrity of the building that means so much to them.
"I think it just brings visibility, maybe opens us up to some different resources and some other ways that we may not have thought of that help to preserve the structural integrity of 600 Grove St.," he said.
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