Welcome to the Mary Hill Davis Offering
Since 1910, Texas Baptists have collected an offering for missions needs in Texas. In 1935, the Texas Offering was named for Mary Hill Davis, president of WMU of Texas and a tireless supporter of Texas missions. Her leadership in various positions spanned the years from 1898 until her death in 1934.

Who was Mary Hill Davis?
Born in Greenville, Georgia, Mary Hill came to Texas in 1870 as a small child. Her parents joined First Baptist Church of Dallas when it was only two years old and she later became a member. She married Dr. F.S. Davis when she was twenty and they had one son, Raymond. 

Inez Boyle Hunt described Mary Hill Davis as "tall, stately, well-educated, and charming." She was known for her generosity of time, money, and self as she sought to help people come to know her Savior. She served Woman's Missionary Union as state recording secretary from 1898 until 1906, when she was elected president. She then served as president until 1931.

As a leader, Mary Hill Davis used her influence to lead Texas Baptist women to minister to the great number of European immigrants coming to this state. She also saw Mexicans in Texas as a vast mission field. Her energy and time were dedicated to children's issues, women's suffrage, education, and the care of aged ministers and their wives.

As president of WMU of Texas she challenged women to learn about and give sacrificially to state, home and foreign missions, as well as to the new Cooperative Program.

Mrs. Davis told the women that their work must be ever changing and not static. She said, "There is a price set upon all growth and development. The need of the hour is the willingness on our part to face new problems; the willingness to pay the price that the services demand."

Mary Hill Davis died on November 28, 1934. At the March 1935 board meeting of WMU of Texas, it was recommended that the offering taken during the Week of Prayer for State Missions be named "The Mary Hill Davis Offering." The resolution was unanimously adopted.

The life of Mary Hill Davis still challenges Texas Baptists to be willing to give of our time, money, and selves to the cause of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with the vast mission field called Texas.

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