Our Town Spotlight: Seminole First Baptist Church

SEMINOLE, Texas (KJTV) - Seminole gets in your blood. Or at least it did for Joe Stewart. He and his family moved to Seminole when he was in the 5th grade after being gone for 30 years. He’s back.

“I had people that were stalwarts and mentors like Karl Don Hughes, Dr. Write, Kay Robinson, Leland Caffey, who poured into me and I just wanted to return the favor and pay it forward. So part of my journey was to come back here,” said Stewart

He points to the people as to what makes this West Texas town unique.

“They desire more than anything to make an impact not just in this local community, but across the United States, and across the globe. When there’s a crisis like what we had in COVID, people stepped forward. We payed peoples mortgages, we gave out gift cards, United gift cards. Even our church does what we call generous buckets where we meet needs all the time.”

Stewart currently serves as Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church, where he has been since 2016. This church has been very significant in his life:

“Three significant events happened here. One, I started my faith journey here at First Baptist in Seminole. I also met my wife and we married here. We were 19 when we got married and then while I was here, all though I was involved in another church, there was a tent revival here and its where I began my vocational ministry over 33 years ago.”

The Pastor credits Seminole with making a significant investment in his character and helping shape his family. The German Mennonite community moved to Seminole several years ago. Stewart says their contribution has been significant.

“We have a large contingent of folks who participate and they are faith oriented in their life and we’re re doing things together with those churches.”

They started Seminole Strong, a worship rally with area churches.

“On August the 11th we’re going to be giving out backpacks and shoe boxes and shoes and food. We want Seminole to be a better place, we want to plant our lives here and make sure it flourishes in a way that would be a great place to bring a family and to grow up like I did as a 10-year-old boy coming into a community that kind of embraced me and made me the man that I am. And I want to be a part of that And they will continue to invest in the future, celebrating the people and the legacy of Seminole.”

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