Lytle Methodist Church
Lytle, Atascosa County, Texas
Marker Inscription
According to oral history, the Lytle Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was founded in 1889. W.C. Newton, a local farmer and preacher, became known as "The Father of the Lytle Methodist Church" due to his efforts to establish a permanent place of worship. Newton also provided land for the Lytle Community Cemetery, cared for by church trustees. The Rev. Jerome P. Garrett served as the first appointed pastor from 1891-1893. The congregation built their first sanctuary in 1892. After the railroad came through Lytle, bypassing the Benton City community, the Benton City Methodist congregation merged with this one in 1909. An active Women's Missionary Society was founded in 1915; a youth group and the Methodist Men's Club were also established. To meet the needs of a growing congregation, the sanctuary was expanded and renovated in 1922. In 1950 a multi-purpose education building was added, and in 1957 a building committee planned a brick sanctuary with cathedral ceiling and stained glass windows. The Lytle United Methodist Church, as it has been known since 1968, continues to provide diverse ministries to the community through worship services, study programs and other charitable activities. (1992)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Founded around 1889, this Methodist congregation owed its start to farmer-preacher W. C. Newton, remembered as 'the Father of the Lytle Methodist Church,' who helped secure both a place of worship and land for the community cemetery. When the railroad bypassed nearby Benton City in 1909, that town's Methodists merged into Lytle, and an active Women's Missionary Society took root a few years later. Through repeated expansions across the twentieth century, the church remained a center of community life.
Why it matters
The congregation's story shows how the coming of the railroad reshuffled Texas communities, and how women's mission societies became engines of church and civic life.
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Related people
- · W. C. Newton
- · Jerome P. Garrett
Themes & tags
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