On June 27th, 1971, 33 people gathered together for worship underneath a canopy of trees in the middle of a pasture belonging to the Miller family off of FM 1565. Three days later, the group of people voted to establish a charter as a church and join the Hunt County Baptist Association. They decided to adopt "Mount of Olives" as a temporary name for the church, until a more permanent location coul
d be found. For several weeks, the group continued to meet at the Miller property until the Vansickle community offered to let the church conduct services in the Old Vansickle School House. On August 4th, 1971, the church called its first pastor -- Rev. Byers, who had been preaching during the interim, while he served as a chaplain in Dallas. In those first few weeks, the church saw its first deacon ordained to serve the church's needs. On August 9th, 1972, the church voted to purchase two acres of property off of FM 1564 (which is the church's existing location). Two months later, the church chose to adopt as its permanent name, "Vansickle Baptist Church". It wasn't until November of 1973 that the church was able to move its first building onto the property. Under the direction of several other pastors, the church saw various seasons of growth. Under the leadership of bro. Roger Ratliff, who served the church for over 36 years, the church experienced tremendous growth. In that time, the church saw the addition of numerous ministries, including Women's Missionary Union (WMU), Girls in Action (GAs) and Acteens, Royal Ambassadors (RAs), a Senior Adults Ministry (JOY), and a Youth Ministry. In 1990, the church needs demanded a larger facility and a new church building and sanctuary were built; and as the church continued to experience growth, it became necessary to further expand the sanctuary in order to minister to more families. In January of 2007, the church moved into our current worship center, which is capable of seating nearly 800 people. On January 24th, the church called Dr. David Upchurch to serve as it's current senior pastor to help lead the church into a new era of ministry! Having the education (with degrees from Baylor University, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary), along with experience from serving in churches of all sizes in both the greater Atlanta (GA) and Houston areas, Pastor David has a vision to help take to take the church to new heights of ministry in Hunt County and around the world. Back in August of 2008, after prayerfully seeking the Lord's direction and guidance, the church voted to add to its various offices the positions of Elders and Lay-Elders. Both Elders and Deacons continue to play an active and vital role in the church, along with the other ministerial and support staff including our Senior Pastor, Worship/Education Pastor, Youth Pastor, Administrative Secretary, Church Receptionist and Directors of Preschool and Children’s Ministry. Bible Study is offered for all age groups beginning at 9:15 am. We also offer various services throughout the week, including our 10:30 am Worship service on Sunday morning. Sunday evening services begin at 6:00 pm. Wednesday night Bible Study meets at 6:30 pm.
