Central Christian Church of Waco

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Central Christian Church of Waco. Now, every good story has a beginning that's a little quieter than what comes after, and this one's no different. It starts with eighteen people, members of the Disciples of Christ denomination in Waco, gathering in one another's homes as early as 1867.

No building, no steeple, no bell. Just folks pulling up chairs and worshipping together, the way people do when a place is still becoming itself. That went on for a few years, and then two women decided it was time to do something about it.

Phoebe Moore and Sallie Skidmore reached out to a man named Reverend B.F. Hall, who was over in Grayson County, and they asked him to come to Waco. He came.

In 1870, under his leadership, those faithful few became charter members of a fully organized congregation. Eighteen people who had been meeting in living rooms now had something official, something lasting. When it came time for baptism, they didn't have a font or a pool.

They had the Brazos River, and that was enough. There is something about a river baptism that sticks with a place, the water moving and not moving all at once. The congregation kept growing, kept organizing.

A Sunday school came together in 1874. A church building was erected in 1875. And here is where the story refuses to be past tense.

That congregation, born in homes, shaped by a river, built by charter members who answered a call, is still active today in missionary and community programs. Eighteen people in somebody's parlor, and look what they started.

What the marker says

Eighteen members of the disciples of Christ denomination in Waco began worshipping together in homes as early as 1867. In 1870 they became charter members of a congregation organized under the leadership of the Rev. B.F. Hall, who came to Waco from Grayson County at the request of Phoebe Moore and Sallie Skidmore. The congregation held baptism services in the Brazos River. A Sunday school was organized in 1874, and a church building was erected in 1875. The congregation continues to be active in missionary and community programs.