Bedford Church of Christ

Duane's take

Here's the story as the official marker tells it, and I'm going to do it justice. Somewhere out in Tarrant County, there's a patch of ground that has been holding the same congregation for going on a century and a half. And it all starts, the way a lot of good Texas stories do, with a farm.

Around 1874, members of the Spring Garden Church of Christ decided they needed something of their own, and so they founded a new congregation. They called it New Hope Church of Christ. Good name.

The kind of name that tells you folks weren't just passing through. They meant to stay. And they built their first meetinghouse right there on Milton Moore's farm, next to a small cemetery; which, if you think about it, is about as rooted in a place as a community can get.

The living and the departed, sharing the same few acres. Then in 1877, Milton Moore did something that sealed the deal. He deeded those five acres to the congregation outright.

Five acres, given over, signed away, done. That land wasn't going anywhere, and neither were the people on it. Now in those early years, the building pulled double duty: it was the church and the local school both.

Out on the Texas frontier, you built what you needed and you used what you built. By 1900, folks had started calling it the Bedford Church of Christ, and that name stuck. Then in 1958, the congregation did something that speaks to a particular kind of generosity; they gave their original buildings to a neighboring church and put up a brand new brick auditorium for themselves.

Not torn down. Given away. And that new building rose on the very same site where Milton Moore's meetinghouse had stood all those decades before.

Same ground. Same congregation. Still there.

What the marker says

Founded about 1874 by members of Spring Garden Church of Christ, this congregation was originally called New Hope Church of Christ. The first meetinghouse was built here on Milton Moore's farm near a small cemetery about 1874. The church has worshiped continually at this site since its beginning. Moore deeded this five acres to the congregation in 1877. During its early years the church also served as the local school. By 1900 the name Bedford Church of Christ began to be used. In 1958 the congregation gave the original buildings to a neighboring church and built a new brick auditorium. (1983)