Sardis United Methodist Church
Sardis, Ellis County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Methodist Church activities in this area can be traced to 1845, when the Rev. Thomas Welch, a circuit-riding minister, preached a sermon. Following a brush arbor meeting near this site in 1873, a formal congregation was organized. Services were held in a log schoolhouse until 1879, when a frame church was erected to serve the Methodist and Cumberland Presbyterian congregations. A separate Methodist Church building was completed in 1904. The Sardis United Methodist Church has been a part of Ellis County history for over one hundred years.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Methodist worship in this corner of Ellis County reaches back to 1845 and a sermon by a circuit-riding preacher, with a formal congregation organized after an 1873 brush-arbor meeting. Services were held in a log schoolhouse until an 1879 frame church was shared with Cumberland Presbyterians, and a dedicated Methodist building followed in 1904. The congregation has served the Sardis community for well over a century.
Why it matters
Frontier churches organized by circuit riders were often the first institutions to knit scattered Texas settlers into a community.
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Nearby & related markers
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