First Christian Church of Luling
Luling, Caldwell County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Eula Nichols moved from a farm near Austin to Luling in 1891 to attend school. She persuaded the rev. A. J. Bush to hold a revival service here in 1892. As a result, First Christian Church was organized with the Rev. G. S. Kimberly serving as resident minister. The congregation purchased the lower level of a local Masonic Lodge where they held services until 1946. A sanctuary, built at this site in 1947, burned and was replaced with a new building in 1979. The church sponsors a variety of youth programs and remains active in local and foreign outreach activities.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The congregation grew from the initiative of Eula Nichols, who moved to Luling in 1891 to attend school and persuaded Rev. A.J. Bush to hold a revival there in 1892. Out of that meeting First Christian Church was organized under resident minister Rev. G.S. Kimberly, worshiping for decades in the lower level of a local Masonic lodge. A 1947 sanctuary burned and was rebuilt in 1979 as the church carried on its youth and outreach work.
Why it matters
The church's founding by a determined young woman illustrates the outsized role individual laypeople—and often women—played in planting religious communities in small Texas towns.
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Related people
- · Eula Nichols
- · A.J. Bush
- · G.S. Kimberly
Themes & tags
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