Burkeville Church of God

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way out in Newton County, there's a congregation with a story that reaches back further than most folks around here might expect. The Church of God reformation, now that movement got its start in Indiana in 1881, born out of a desire for Christian unity and a real suspicion of undue organization.

Simple enough roots. But watch how those roots travel. They make it all the way down to East Texas, and they do it on account of one schoolteacher.

Her name was Alice McAlfin, and she taught at the Pine Knot School, about four miles northeast of Burkeville. Somewhere along the way, she came across information about the Church of God out of Leesville, Louisiana. She brought that word back with her.

Now when a teacher brings something home from Louisiana, people tend to listen. Several area residents took note. John Cousins, Jim Smith, Will Smith, they started attending the services.

And with their leadership, the Burkeville congregation was established in 1901, making it the oldest known Church of God fellowship in the entire state of Texas. Let that land for a second. The whole state.

It started in a schoolhouse, specifically that same Pine Knot Schoolhouse, which is the kind of detail that makes you appreciate a good multipurpose building. But the real heart of those early years, the thing that gives this story its particular Texas flavor, was what happened every summer out on the banks of McGraw Creek, about three and a half miles northeast of town. Annual camp meetings.

Held in a tent. Often lasting several weeks. Services ran three times a day, which meant families didn't just attend, they set up camp right there on the creek bank.

It was a community gathered around water and worship for weeks at a time. A wooden house was constructed on the site for use by the preachers. And here's one of those details that makes the practical and the sacred run together: a nearby water mill regulated the level of the creek, which meant that creek could be used for baptisms year-round.

Rain or shine, hot or cold, the water was right where they needed it. The members eventually built a wooden tabernacle on that creek site, and it served the congregation well, right up until 1927, when they moved to a new tabernacle in south Burkeville. From there, the congregation kept building.

A wooden sanctuary went up at the present site in 1944. That gave way to the current edifice in 1973. What started as information carried home by a schoolteacher, planted in a borrowed schoolhouse, grown under a tent on a creek bank, had become something built to last.

That's a long way from Indiana, and every mile of it was earned.

What the marker says

The Church of God reformation began in Indiana in 1881 as a Christian unity movement opposed to undue organization. This congregation, founded in 1901, is the oldest known Church of God fellowship in the state. Alice McAlfin, a teacher in the Pine Knot School (4 mi. NE), brought information about the Church of God from Leesville, Louisiana. Several area residents, including John Cousins, Jim Smith, and Will Smith, began attending the services. With their leadership the Burkeville congregation was established. Services were first conducted in the Pine Knot Schoolhouse. Annual summer camp meetings, often lasting several weeks, were held in a tent on the banks of McGraw Creek (3.5 mi. NE). Since services were held three times each day, family camps were set up on the banks of the creek. A wooden house was constructed for use by the preachers. A nearby water mill regulated the level of the creek, allowing it to be used for baptisms year-round. Members built a wooden tabernacle on the creek site that was used until 1927 when the congregation moved to a new tabernacle in south Burkeville. A wooden sanctuary, constructed at the present site in 1944, was replaced by the current edifice in 1973.