A Christ-Exalting Church on County Road 2212
Oak Shade Baptist Church sits on County Road 2212 in the Tarkington community near Cleveland, Texas, and has gathered for worship on this stretch of Liberty County since before the Civil War. The congregation describes itself as a Christ-exalting Baptist church in the Reformed tradition, and that identity shapes everything from the songs sung on a Sunday morning to the confession held in the pews. Today the church runs a full weekly schedule of Bible teaching, family-integrated worship, and outreach that includes Operation Christmas Child and an annual Answers in Genesis Vacation Bible School.
The setting is rural East Texas, long on history and short on pretense. Visitors are welcomed as they are, children stay in the room with their parents, and the preaching works its way steadily through Scripture. The church's address is 1807 County Road 2212, Cleveland, TX 77327.
From a Log House to a 2005 Best Church Honor
Oak Shade Baptist Church first came into being on July 4, 1857, when two missionaries, David Fisher and B.L. Wright, began holding religious services in a small log house in the community of Oak Shade. The same building also served as the community's school, and the site of that original structure is only a few miles from where the church now stands on FM 2212.
The families who hosted those first services had been in Liberty County for decades. The Burton Tarkingtons had moved to the area from Indiana in 1827, with Burton Tarkington generally credited as the first white settler west of the Trinity River in Liberty County. Moses and Daniel Donahoe came from Mississippi and received certified land grants in 1835; Daniel Donahoe is believed to have donated the land for the Oak Shade Baptist Church and Cemetery. Jordan West, Spencer Kirkham, and Andrew Jackson Isaacks all settled in the same neighborhood - Isaacks fought in the Texas Revolution in 1835, became the first postmaster of Tarkington Prairie, and is buried in the Oak Shade Cemetery with a historical marker on his grave.
The Reverend Austin Ellis was the church's first pastor, serving from 1857 to 1860 and typically preaching only one service a month. He is also recorded as one of the early pastors of Concord Baptist Church near Rye. The Reverend D.D. Foreman followed in 1867 and continued until 1872; church records credit Foreman with organizing a wagon train to rescue East Texas Indians suffering from starvation and fever, settling them along the Trinity River before they eventually moved to a government reservation.
The 1870s were lean years. Reconstruction strained the early settlers, and the birth of a new sister church, Rural Shade Baptist Church, drew away some of Oak Shade's members. After two years without a pastor, the congregation built a small one-room sanctuary in 1881 near where the church stands today. Twenty-five years later, a high-ceilinged white frame building replaced it, allowing the church to operate independently of the schoolhouse. An influenza epidemic in 1918 took the lives of several members, who were buried in the cemetery behind the church. In 1939 the old building was torn down and a new one was constructed on the site.
In 2005, readers of local publications covering four counties voted Oak Shade Baptist Church the East Texas Best Church.
Sunday Morning at Oak Shade
Sunday School classes meet at 9:15 AM in the fellowship building, and the main corporate worship service begins at 10:45 AM. Visitors are welcomed with a simple "come as you are" greeting, and the room is described as friendly and easy to enter.
Worship is led with heartfelt singing accompanied by guitar, with songs chosen to reflect Scripture and honor God. Prayer is offered together for the congregation's needs, trusting in God's sovereign care. Preaching is verse-by-verse through whole books of the Bible, working through the original meaning and applying it to the present day. The pattern is expository and Reformed in tone, faithful to the conviction that the whole counsel of God is to be taught.
The whole service is open to children. Families are encouraged to worship and study together, and the sounds of children in the room are welcomed as a sign of healthy family worship. A nursery is provided in the Children's building for infants and toddlers, and a separate room in the Church Offices offers a livestream of the service for nursing mothers and mothers with young children who want a quieter space.
Members and visitors typically dress casually, and the church only asks that guests come as they are comfortable. Those who wish to dress up for the occasion are welcome to do so. The Lord's Supper is observed at least quarterly, and baptism is by immersion for believers who profess faith in Christ.
Midweek on Wednesdays
A Wednesday evening Mid-Week Worship service meets at 6:00 PM and continues the pattern of prayer, singing, and teaching from Scripture. On the same night, youth and children gather in their own spaces.
Students meet at 5:00 PM in the Youth Recreation Room next to the Fellowship Hall for a fellowship meal, then move to the Youth Discipleship Room in the Choir Loft at 6:00 PM for a lesson focused on exploring God's Word and applying it to everyday life. Seth Walters, the church's Minister of Music, leads the youth ministry.
Children's ministry on Wednesday at 6:00 PM offers an interactive experience filled with Bible stories, games, crafts, and group discussions designed to help kids connect biblical truths to their everyday lives. Crystal Bortz and Casey Walters lead the children's ministry.
Training Up the Next Generation
The Children's Ministry provides a fun, safe, and engaging environment where kids can learn about God, grow in their knowledge of the Gospel, and build meaningful friendships. Both the Sunday morning and Wednesday night sessions are open to all children and are led by church members who are passionate about sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ and creating a nurturing environment for repentance and faith. Sunday morning lessons currently use the Growing in God's Word, Baptist Edition curriculum.
Vacation Bible School is an exciting summer program that uses the Answers in Genesis curriculum to teach kids biblical truths in a fun and engaging way. Through interactive Bible lessons, music, crafts, games, and themed activities, children explore God's Word and learn how it applies to their everyday lives. The curriculum emphasizes a solid, Bible-based foundation, helping kids understand God's creation and His plan for salvation. VBS is open to students who have finished kindergarten through those who have finished fifth grade. Dianne King and Casey Walters lead the program.
The Church Choir, led by Debbie Elliott, rehearses on Sunday evenings and prepares special cantatas for Easter and Christmas. Whether a person has a passion for singing or simply wants to worship through music, the choir is a place to use those gifts for God's glory.
Ladies Bible Study Fellowship on Tuesday Nights
Bible Study Fellowship, or BSF, is a welcoming, non-denominational ministry open to all women in the community who are eager to grow in their knowledge of God's Word. The fellowship meets on Tuesday evenings at 7:00 PM, drawing women from Tarkington, Cleveland, and the wider Liberty County area. BSF partners with local churches to provide in-depth, Scripture-based studies designed to strengthen biblical understanding and prepare participants to serve effectively within their own church and community. Dianne King leads the local group.
Senior Adults, and Shoeboxes That Travel the World
The Senior Adults at Oak Shade, led by Twynia Atkins, are an active and welcoming group that meets every other Tuesday for a potluck luncheon. The gatherings often include engaging guest speakers, typically once a month, as well as fun activities like games and fellowship. Each meeting features a raffle for various items, with proceeds helping to support the cost of shipping Operation Christmas Child boxes - a meaningful way to give back while enjoying time together.
Operation Christmas Child is a global outreach project of Samaritan's Purse that shares the love of Jesus with children around the world. Through this ministry, individuals and families pack shoeboxes with gifts, school supplies, hygiene items, and a message of God's love. These boxes are then sent to children in need in over 100 countries. At Oak Shade, the congregation is passionate about supporting this ministry by collecting items, packing shoeboxes, and helping to cover shipping costs. Gina Williams leads the effort.
A Confessional, Covenantal Community
Oak Shade Baptist Church is a confessional church, unified in doctrinal affirmation. The congregation upholds The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 as an accurate expression of its beliefs, and worked through the New Hampshire Confession of Faith 1853 on the Lord's Day from the fall of 2024 through the winter of 2026.
From The Baptist Faith and Message 2000, the church affirms the full inspiration and trustworthiness of Scripture, the existence of one true and living God in three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - the full deity and humanity of Jesus Christ, salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone, the priesthood of all believers, the autonomy of the local church, the two ordinances of believer's baptism by immersion and the Lord's Supper, and the eternal reward of the righteous in heaven and the eternal punishment of the unrighteous in hell. Marriage is understood as the lifelong union of one man and one woman, and the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.
The church is also a covenantal community. Members enter into a written covenant together, promising to walk in Christian love, sustain the worship and ordinances of the church, contribute cheerfully and regularly to its ministry, maintain family and personal devotions, educate their children in the faith, watch over one another in brotherly love, and unite with another church if they ever move away. The whole document is publicly available, as are the church's constitution and bylaws.
The church functions as an autonomous and democratic body under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, with no higher ecclesiastical authority over it, and it recognizes and sustains the obligation of mutual counsel and cooperation common among Baptist churches. The Pastor is supported by a body of Deacons who meet monthly with him, and the church is governed by its members in regular monthly business meetings.
Becoming a Member
Anyone interested in joining Oak Shade Baptist Church can fill out a visitor card in the pew or speak with one of the pastors. The pastors host a membership class so that prospective members can learn more about what Oak Shade believes and ask questions. Once the class is completed and the requirements for membership are met, candidates are presented before the members of the church to be voted in. New members are received by profession of faith and baptism, by promise of a letter of recommendation from another Baptist church of like faith and practice, by restoration of letter, or by statement of prior conversion experience and baptism in a Baptist church. A three-quarters vote of those members voting is required to elect candidates to membership.
Members are expected to attend worship regularly, complete the membership class, sign the covenant, affirm the doctrinal commitments of the church, and commit to serving within the body. Voting in elections and on questions submitted to the church is open to every member aged 18 and above who is present.
The People Who Serve
Justin Herron has served as the Senior Pastor of Oak Shade Baptist Church since 2023. He previously served as the Lead Pastor at The Beacon in Los Angeles, California, and has been in vocational ministry since 2009. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Central Florida (2007), graduated from the Word of Life Bible Institute in Hudson, Florida and Pottersville, New York (2008-2009), and earned a Master of Divinity from Reformed Theological Seminary at the Roger Nicole Institute of Baptist Studies in Orlando, Florida (2016). He and his wife, Megan, are parents to their son, John, and daughter, Hope.
Seth Walters has served at Oak Shade since 2016 as a bi-vocational music minister, as well as owning and operating a construction business. A lifelong resident of the local community, he began serving the Lord through music ministry as a teenager alongside his family, continued through college at Ranger Junior College and LeTourneau University, and graduated in 2018 with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. He and his wife, Casey, married in 2018 and have two children, Josiah and Abigail.
The church office can be reached at (281) 593-1362 or info@oakshadebc.org. Online giving is available through the church's Realm giving portal, and a sermon archive is hosted through Sermon Audio.