Central Christian Church of Waco
Waco, McLennan County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Eighteen members of the disciples of Christ denomination in Waco began worshipping together in homes as early as 1867. In 1870 they became charter members of a congregation organized under the leadership of the Rev. B.F. Hall, who came to Waco from Grayson County at the request of Phoebe Moore and Sallie Skidmore. The congregation held baptism services in the Brazos River. A Sunday school was organized in 1874, and a church building was erected in 1875. The congregation continues to be active in missionary and community programs.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
As early as 1867 a handful of Disciples of Christ believers in Waco met to worship in one another's homes, and in 1870 they formally organized a congregation under Rev. B.F. Hall — who came at the invitation of Phoebe Moore and Sallie Skidmore. Early converts were baptized in the Brazos River, a Sunday school followed in 1874, and a church building rose the next year.
Why it matters
The congregation's founding, prompted by two determined women, shows how ordinary members — and especially women — anchored the religious and social life of a growing post-war Texas town.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
Waco in the late 1860s was a town on the move. It sat on the Brazos River in the heart of Central Texas, and the years right after the Civil War brought new settlers, new commerce, and new ambitions. In 1870 the town gained a landmark suspension bridge over the Brazos, which helped make Waco a crossing point for travelers and cattle heading north.
Religious life grew alongside the town. Many Texans were transplants from the older Southern states, and they brought their churches with them. Before a congregation could afford a building, worship often happened in parlors and front rooms, with a few families gathering wherever there was space.
The Disciples of Christ belonged to the Stone-Campbell, or "Restoration," movement. That uniquely American religious movement grew out of the early 1800s frontier and aimed to return to what its followers saw as the simple practices of the New Testament church. It spread especially quickly through the South and the Midwest, and by the post-war years Disciples congregations were taking root in towns across Texas.
People & events
The story starts small. By 1867, eighteen Disciples of Christ believers in Waco were worshipping together in one another's homes, with no pastor of their own and no building. Gatherings like these depended on the people who opened their doors and kept the group together from week to week.
Two of those people are named on the marker: Phoebe Moore and Sallie Skidmore. It was at their request that the Rev. B.F. Hall came to Waco from Grayson County in North Texas. In 1870, under his leadership, the home-worshippers became the charter members of a formally organized congregation. Two women's initiative turned a circle of believers into a church.
The new congregation baptized its members in the Brazos River. Full immersion was central to Disciples practice, and the river made a natural baptistry. A Sunday school followed in 1874, and in 1875 the members put up their first church building. Eight years after those first meetings in private homes, they had a church of their own.
Its place in the American story
The Stone-Campbell movement is one of the few major religious traditions born on American soil, and its growth is tied closely to the westward movement of American settlers. Congregations like this one show how the movement traveled: not mainly through institutions, but through ordinary believers who moved, met in homes, and eventually sent for a preacher.
The marker also captures something true of American church history in general that official records often miss. Women frequently did the organizing, persuading, and sustaining that kept young congregations alive, even in an era when they rarely held formal church office. Phoebe Moore and Sallie Skidmore appear here because they took action, and the church that followed is the result.
The Brazos baptisms link this congregation to a widespread American scene. Across the nineteenth-century South and West, river baptisms were public events that drew onlookers and marked a convert's entry into the community. A congregation that later went on to missionary and community work grew from those shared beginnings on the riverbank.
If you visit
Bring the marker's timeline with you: eighteen people meeting in parlors, then a formal congregation, a Sunday school, and finally a building. Standing at the church today, you're looking at where that steady, member-driven growth led.
Waco makes a good base for a day of history. The Brazos River runs through town, and walking or driving near it helps you picture the baptisms that once took place in its waters. The historic suspension bridge, which opened the same year this congregation organized, is a fitting companion stop.
The congregation is still active, so please be respectful of services and church activities when you visit. It's a good stop for travelers interested in Texas religious history or in the often-overlooked women who built so many of the state's community institutions.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · B.F. Hall
- · Phoebe Moore
- · Sallie Skidmore
Themes & tags
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