Callisburg United Methodist Church

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Callisburg United Methodist Church in Cooke County. Now settle in, because this one goes back to the very roots of the community itself. Samuel Callis, the founder of Callisburg and a blacksmith by trade, was a Methodist.

And according to local oral history, he is thought to have been an original member of the congregation that would become the Callisburg church of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. That oral history says this group was gathering as early as the 1880s, meeting in the homes of charter members and in a local schoolhouse. Folks pulling chairs together around a hearth, singing hymns, building something from nothing.

That's how it started. Then came the official moment. Church records say the congregation was formally organized in August of 1896, with the Reverend R.

F. Bryant serving as pastor. Right then, at that very organizing, the first baptisms were recorded.

Members of the Criswell, Arnn, and Ayres families were among those welcomed into the faith. By the late 1890s, the church records show nearly sixty members. A congregation finding its footing, and finding it fast.

Then came the land. On January 3, 1898, this very site was purchased from Mr. and Mrs. J.

T. Ayres for twenty-five dollars. And here's the part that sticks with you.

A man named William Campbell built the first church building on that land. He didn't hire a crew. He didn't bring in specialists.

He brought his eight-year-old son Lawrence, and the two of them crafted it together. A father and a boy, building a sanctuary with their own hands. The years kept moving.

In 1954, the sanctuary was remodeled and hardwood floors were added. Then in 1956, something remarkable happened. The Mt.

Zion Methodist Church building, sitting about seven miles northeast of Callisburg near Dexter, was picked up and moved to this very site and converted into a parsonage. That same year, Sunday School classrooms and a front foyer were added. The place was growing.

And in 1998, the congregation celebrated one hundred years in that sanctuary with a full year of historical programs. One hundred years from the ground Samuel Callis helped consecrate. A blacksmith's faith, a father and son's carpentry, sixty souls in the late 1890s, a building hauled in from seven miles away.

It all added up to something that, by all accounts, is still going strong.

What the marker says

Callisburg founder Samuel Callis, an area blacksmith, was a Methodist who is thought to have been an original member of the Callisburg congregation of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. According to local oral history, this group was organized as early as the 1880s, with meetings held in the homes of charter members and in a local schoolhouse. According to church records, the congregation was officially organized in August 1896, with the Rev. R. F. Bryant as pastor. The first baptisms were recorded at that time and included members of the Criswell, Arnn, and Ayres families. Church records from the late 1890s show almost 60 members. On January 3, 1898, land on this site was purchased from Mr. and Mrs. J. T. Ayres for $25. William Campbell, assisted by his eight-year-old son Lawrence, crafted the first church building. The sanctuary was remodeled in 1954, with hardwood floors added. In 1956, the Mt. Zion Methodist Church building was moved to this site from about seven miles northeast of Callisburg, near Dexter, and converted into a parsonage. Sunday School classrooms and a front foyer were added in that year. The Callisburg United Methodist Church celebrated 100 years in its sanctuary in 1998 with a year of historical programs. The thriving membership continues to be active in worship and service to the community. (1998)