DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way back on September 11, 1881, a group of Disciples gathered for the earliest worship service this community had ever seen. No building, no sanctuary, just folks with faith and a floor to stand on.
For six years they met wherever they could find room. Private homes. The courthouse.
The schoolhouse. Wherever there was a door that would open, they'd carry their fellowship inside. Then in 1886, they finally built something of their own, a sanctuary right there on Waco Street.
And by that point the church had been formally chartered with 35 members. Thirty-five people who decided this thing was worth making official. Now, here's where the story takes a hard turn. 1892.
Fire destroyed the structure. Everything they'd built, gone. And you might think that's the end of the story.
It is not the end of the story. The members rebuilt. Right here.
Same ground, new resolve. That rebuilt church grew into something the marker describes plainly but powerfully as a significant institution in the community. Active in support of missions, active in benevolent organizations, sending its people out into the world to do real work.
Two of those members went out as missionaries. Nona Boegman, and the Reverend Allan Eubank. The marker holds their names, and so do we.
A fire in 1892 couldn't stop what started on September 11, 1881. Some stories just refuse to end.
What the marker says
The earliest worship service for local Disciples was conducted on September 11, 1881. Six years later the fellowship was formally chartered with 35 members. Meetings were held in private homes, the courthouse, and the schoolhouse until a sanctuary was built on Waco Street in 1886. After a fire destroyed the structure in 1892 the members rebuilt here. Active in support of missions and benevolent organizations, the church has been a significant institution in the community. Membership has included two missionaries, Nona Boegman and the Rev. Allan Eubank.