The Way We Were - A (Brief) History of Alpine First Baptist Church

Alpine First Baptist (formerly Sardis Baptist) had its beginning in September of 1895. Originally meeting in a school house near its present location, the church was soon able to build a one room structure on an acre tract of property donated to the church. The first Sunday School was started in 1922 with classes being held outdoors under the trees. Sunday School classrooms were built in 1936.
In 1961, Alpine (Sardis) received another donation of land and under the pastorate of Bro. Charles Woods, a church sanctuary was built. This building was later converted into an office-education complex and is currently being used as such.
Serving as pastor, Rev. R.C. Hammack guided the church through a phase of growth and in 1977 a new sanctuary was constructed. Two years later the church called Rev. Charles Hutzler to be its pastor. The church name was changed from Sardis to Alpine. Under the leadership and with the vision of Rev. Hutzler, the church dedicated a new Family Life Center in 1985. This facility was virtually built with volunteer labor and contributed monies. It is now the home of Alpine Christian School which began in 1987.
Alpine First Baptist Church, in 1995, celebrated its centennial. The faithful founders of Sardis Baptist Church, 100 years ago, had indeed paved the way for a legacy of preaching, teaching and witnessing. The church sanctuary was renovated and a new church nursery was built in the existing office-education complex in 1997. The year also brought to a close the ministry of Rev. Hutzler after eighteen and one-half years of service at Alpine.
In June of 1998, the Lord led Rev. Stephen Trammell to serve as pastor. Through the vision that the Lord gave Bro. Stephen, the church experienced unprecedented growth. Additional worship services were added and new ministerial and support staff positions were filled. In the fall of 2000, Dr. Trammell accepted a call to Florida Boulevard Baptist Church in Baton Rouge.
Rev. Sammy Morrow was called as pastor in July of 2001. He and his wife, Paula, served at Alpine from July of 2001 to June, 2007. Under his pastorate the church participated in “40 Days of Purpose”.
Bro. Dick DeBusk was called by our church to serve as Pastor in February of 2008. He and his wife, Carolyn, are continuing to be a blessing to members of Alpine.
From its humble beginnings in a school house, Alpine First Baptist Church now has properties estimated at over $2,800,000. due to the vision and commitment to our Lord of members both past and present, the church has grown from ten charter members to current resident membership of over 800. How the Lord has blessed!