Christoval United Methodist Church
Christoval, Tom Green County, Texas
Marker Inscription
According to local history, Christoval Methodists, Baptists, and Cumberland Presbyterians assembled for worship services in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church building before 1910. Circuit riders from the three denominations preached on alternate Sundays. Although Baptists built their own structure in 1910, area Methodists continued to worship with Cumberland Presbyterians for many years. The records of the Christoval Methodist congregation date from 1923. In 1926, with the Rev. J. E. Young as pastor, the Methodists erected and occupied a red brick structure at the corner of Second and McKee streets. Fundraising projects at several Fourth of July celebrations helped to defray the cost of the building loan. In early years church women organized the Women's Missionary Society. Their first major project was to raise money for the Methodist Orphans' Home. A Men's Nondenominational Sunday School class was established in 1951. A parsonage was built in 1947 at a cost of $1,200; an educational building was erected in 1956. Further additions and renovations were made as needed, including the construction of three classrooms given in memory of Clarice Atkins McMillan in 1983. Former pastors and longtime members were honored at a church homecoming in 1978 and a 75th anniversary celebration in 1998. With continuing activities of worship and community service including an annual barbecue hosted by the Men's Nondenominational Sunday School class, the Christoval United Methodist Church carries on in the traditions of its founders. (1998)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In Christoval's early years, Methodists, Baptists and Cumberland Presbyterians shared a single building, with circuit riders from each denomination preaching on alternate Sundays. The Methodist congregation's own records date from 1923, and in 1926 they built a red brick church at Second and McKee streets, helping pay off the loan through Fourth of July fundraisers. Women anchored the church's outreach through the Women's Missionary Society, and the congregation grew with parsonage, classrooms and decades of community service.
Why it matters
The church shows how small west Texas towns pooled scarce resources across denominations, and how women's missionary work sustained frontier congregations.
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Related people
- · J. E. Young
Themes & tags
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