Church Of The Living God, Pillar And Ground Of Truth
Richmond, Fort Bend County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The Church of the Living God, Pillar and Ground of Truth was the first of its kind and denomination in Richmond, established in 1918 by evangelist Isom Ford. The first church was built in 1923 on Fourth and Travis Streets in the Freeman Town area. Later it was added on to in 1945, then moved to the back of the property in 1969, the year a new church in Thompsons was purchased and moved to 400 Travis street. It was one of the first churches in the area with a female leader, Octavia Laws, in 1921. The church has served the community of Richmond in food and clothing ministry as well as ministry to nursing homes. It bridges generations from days of Freeman Town’s freed slaves to today.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Evangelist Isom Ford founded this congregation in 1918, the first of its denomination in Richmond, and its first church rose in 1923 in the Freeman Town neighborhood settled by freed people. Remarkably for its time, the church installed a woman, Octavia Laws, as a leader in 1921. Across the decades the building was added to, relocated more than once, and sustained ministries of food, clothing, and care for the community, bridging the generations from Freeman Town's emancipated founders to the present.
Why it matters
The church documents both the religious life of a freedmen's community and an early instance of women's leadership in the Black church, two threads of African American history rarely written down.
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Related people
- · Isom Ford
- · Octavia Laws
Themes & tags
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