Archer City Methodist Church

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Archer City Methodist Church. Now, some stories start with a bang, and some start with a mission. This one starts with both, and they start at the same time.

The year was 1880. Archer City was being organized, just finding its footing on the Texas plains, and right alongside that effort, a congregation was taking its first breath too, beginning as a mission. You couldn't really separate the two.

The town and the church came into the world together. Now, in those early days, the pastors who tended this flock weren't the kind who stayed put. The Rev.

D. D. Duncan and the Rev.

I. N. Crutchfield were circuit riders, which means they were in the saddle as much as they were in the pulpit, working not just Archer City but neighboring counties too.

Wide territory, lean congregations, long roads. That was the job. For nine years the mission held together without a building to call its own.

Then, in 1889, the members of Archer City Methodist Church did something about that. They constructed their first sanctuary themselves. Built it with their own hands.

And that was just the beginning. As the congregation grew in numbers over the years, they built new facilities to match. Growth, then building.

Building, then more growth. That was the pattern. It took time, but by 1912, the church had arrived at something significant.

It became a full-time, self-supporting member of the North Texas Conference. That's not a small thing. That's a congregation standing on its own.

And through all of it, from mission to sanctuary to conference member, this church kept providing what the marker calls significant service to the community. Started the same year the town did, and kept pace with it every step of the way.

What the marker says

This congregation began as a mission in 1880, the same year Archer City was organized. The earliest pastors, including the Rev. D. D. Duncan and the Rev. I. N. Crutchfield, were circuit riders who also served neighboring counties. Members of Archer City Methodist Church constructed their first sanctuary in 1889 and built new facilities in later years as they grew in numbers. The church became a full-time, self-supporting member of the North Texas Conference in 1912. Throughout its history the congregation has provided significant service to the community. (1985)