First United Methodist Church of Trinity
Trinity, Trinity County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This congregation was organized in 1872, the same year the City of Trinity was founded. The Rev. John Woolam is credited with the establishment of the church and also served as its first itinerate minister. Woolam held services in Trinity one Sunday each month. his preaching circuit at that time consisted on 12 to 15 stations, including Trinity, Nevilles Prairie, Blackland, and Lovelady. Early worship services were held in the Barnes-Lister store in Trinity. In 1873 a one-room log schoolhouse was constructed, an it served for a tiem as a community church building as well. The Methodist congregation built the first sanctuary during the early 1880s at the corner of what is now Robb and Madision. The one-room building soon became too small for the growing fellowship, and additions were made in 1902 and in 1913. The current sanctuary was completed in 1928. Throughout its history, Trinity United Methodist Church has provided significant service and leadership to the community. With its emphasis on christian education and missionary programs, the congregation continues to uphold the ideals and traditions of its founders.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Organized in 1872, the very year the town of Trinity was founded, this Methodist congregation was established by the Rev. John Woolam, a circuit rider who preached one Sunday a month among a dozen or more stations across the region. Worship began in a general store and a one-room log schoolhouse before the congregation raised its first sanctuary in the 1880s, expanding as the town grew and completing the present building in 1928.
Why it matters
The circuit-riding preacher moving between frontier settlements was a defining figure of nineteenth-century American religion, carrying faith and community to towns too new to support a full-time minister.
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Related people
- · Rev. John Woolam
Themes & tags
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