Everybody in their Sunday best
Took at least an hour just to get dressed
Gazin' at the blue sky, pullin' at my necktie
Dreamin' 'bout the fishin' hole and playin' ball, yeah

Standin' on a wooden pew so I could see
Singin' from a hymnal with my family
Then it caught my eye, Mama started to cry
As she sang along with I Surrender All

In a little white church
On the banks of a river
Outside that backroad Texas town
Went there lost but left there delivered
That red clay dirt was sacred ground
Oh, I heard it first
On the banks of a river
In a Texas town
In a little white country church

Listenin' to the church choir sing a gospel song
Smilin' as the old men try to sing along
Babies in the church there cryin' durin' the prayer
Never has there been a sweeter place to be

Than in a little white church
On the banks of a river
Outside that backroad Texas town
Went there lost but left there delivered
That red clay dirt was sacred ground
Oh, I heard it first
On the banks of a river
In a Texas town
In a little white country church

I still recall
Kneeling at that altar
Down on my knees
Please, Jesus, help me

In a little white church
On the banks of a river
Outside that backroad Texas town
Went there lost but left there delivered
That red clay dirt was sacred ground
Oh, I heard it first

In a little white church
On the banks of a river
Outside that backroad Texas town
Went there lost but left there delivered
That red clay dirt was sacred ground
Oh, I heard it first
On the banks of a river
In a Texas town
In a little white country church

On the banks of a river
In a Texas town
In a little white country church