First Baptist Church, Waco, Texas, which celebrates its 175th anniversary in 2026, is a moderate congregation of diverse social, economic, educational, and religious backgrounds. This book narrates key themes in the rich history of the church, which has been deeply affected by successive cultural contexts, including slavery, wars, the Depression, the Civil Rights movement, denominational conflicts, and secularization. Organized in 1851, the church has offered weekly worship in central Texas since that time.