Argyle United Methodist Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, Argyle, Texas, the town came first. The church came thirteen years later.

You might think a community that close-knit would've had a congregation up and running from day one, but that's not always how it goes out here on the Texas prairie. Sometimes a town's got to settle its bones before it can tend to its soul. When that moment finally arrived, the Argyle United Methodist Church was chartered in 1894 with twenty-seven members, twenty-seven souls who decided it was time to make it official.

The first pastor was the Reverend Blueford Henry Webster, a Methodist circuit rider who'd come all the way up from Mississippi. Now, a circuit rider, that's a preacher who doesn't wait for you to come to him. He comes to you, on horseback, in the dust and the heat, covering ground that would make a lesser man reconsider his calling.

Reverend Webster was that kind of man. In the early days, the congregation didn't yet have a building to call their own, so they did what practical people have always done, they used what was already there. Worship services were held in the Argyle Schoolhouse.

There's something quietly dignified about that, the same room where children learned their letters becoming, on certain mornings, a house of prayer. But by 1898, the trustees were ready to put down roots in a more permanent way. They purchased land at this very location, the ground you might be standing near right now, from the Texas and Pacific Railway and a man named W.

H. Abrams, who served as the company's trustee. The first sanctuary was a frame structure, built here soon after that purchase, during the pastorate of the Reverend J.

R. Atchley. And here's the part I love.

Reverend Atchley didn't just preach the building into existence. He picked up a hammer. He completed much of the carpentry work himself, with the help of a Mr.

Rhodes and several church members. There is something about a congregation that literally builds its own sanctuary, nail by nail, that tends to stick together. The years kept turning.

In 1947, church trustees acquired the adjoining property, growing, always growing. Then in 1969, a brick sanctuary was constructed east of the original frame structure, and in 1972, an educational building was added. From that first charter in 1894 until it finally became its own full appointment, Argyle United Methodist Church was part of a circuit for seventy-eight years.

Seventy-eight years of shared pastors, shared resources, shared faith across the open Texas land. And through all of it, the church wove itself deep into the life of Argyle, its membership counting among the town's prominent community leaders, its doors open for civic gatherings and public functions as well as Sunday services. The town came first, yes.

But for seventy-eight years on the circuit, and well beyond, the church helped decide what kind of town Argyle would become.

What the marker says

Organized thirteen years after the town of Argyle was founded, this church was chartered in 1894 with twenty-seven members. The first pastor was the Rev. Blueford Henry Webster, a Methodist circuit rider from Mississippi. Early worship services for the congregation were conducted in the Argyle Schoolhouse. In 1898 church trustees purchased land at this location from the Texas and Pacific railway and W. H. Abrams, company trustee. The first sanctuary, a frame structure, was built here soon afterward during the pastorate of the Rev. J. R. Atchley, who completed much of the carpentry work with the assistance of a Mr. Rhodes and several church members. Adjoining property was acquired by church trustees in 1947. A brick sanctuary was constructed here in 1969, east of the original structure, and an educational building was added in 1972. Part of a circuit for seventy-eight years, the Argyle United Methodist Church has played a significant role in the development of the town. Membership has included many prominent community leaders, and church facilities have been used for a variety of civic group meetings and public functions. (1981)