DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in Gillespie County. Now, some stories begin with a deed and end with a dedication, and if you'll ride along with me, this one does exactly that — with a whole lot of faith and elbow grease in between. By the 1870s, several black families were already putting down roots in Gillespie County.
And in 1877, somebody built a schoolhouse on a piece of property right next to what would become this very church site. Before the church existed, the congregation probably gathered in that schoolhouse for worship — making do, the way communities always have when the spirit is willing but the building isn't finished yet. Ten years after that schoolhouse went up, things got official.
In 1887, a man named Oscar Basse deeded the lot to four trustees: William McLane, Silas Russel, James Scruggins, and James Tinker — trustees of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church. Four names on a deed. That's a foundation right there, before a single stone is laid.
And then the congregation got to work. The members themselves erected the building — a simple frame structure, modest by most measures, but it had a small steeple, and it sat on a native limestone foundation. You don't put a steeple on something you're not proud of.
Time passed, as time does. The local black community dispersed, attendance thinned, and the building began to deteriorate. That's a quiet kind of loss — a building going silent by degrees.
But here's where the story turns. A woman named Cora Phillips — widow of Paul Phillips, a well-known Gillespie County veterinarian and church trustee — she looked at that crumbling frame structure and said it ought to be restored. She suggested bringing it back for use by youth organizations, and that suggestion took hold in 1974.
What followed was something. Youth representing half a dozen faiths showed up and got their hands dirty — carrying out repair and renovation work on a building none of them had grown up in, for a community not entirely their own. And the country noticed.
They earned national recognition for what they did. Then came February 1976. The restored building was dedicated as the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, and the man who preached at those ceremonies was Dr.
Robert Mosby — son of the congregation's third pastor, the Reverend William H. Mosby. A son, preaching in a church his father once served.
That's the kind of symmetry that doesn't need any embellishment. A limestone foundation. A small steeple.
A deed signed in 1887. And a group of young people from half a dozen faiths who decided a building worth saving was worth the work. That church in Gillespie County has been earning its steeple for a long time.
What the marker says
Several black families were residing in Gillespie County by the 1870s. A schoolhouse was built in 1877 on property adjacent to this later church site. Blacks probably met in the school for worship services before this church was completed 10 years later. In 1887 Oscar Basse deeded this lot to William McLane, Silas Russel, James Scruggins, and James Tinker as trustees of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church. Members of the congregation erected this simple frame structure, with its small steeple, atop a native limestone foundation. In recent years, when the local black community dispersed, use of the church building decreased and deterioration set n. Cora Phillips, widow of Paul Phillips, well-known Gillespie County veterinarian and church trustee, suggested restoring the structure for use by youth organizations united in 1974. The youth, representing half a dozen faiths, carried out repair and renovation work and gained national recognition for their endeavors. Dr. Robert Mosby, son of the black congregation's third pastor, the Rev. William H. Mosby, preached at ceremonies in February 1976, when the restored building was dedicated as the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church.