Church of the Holy Comforter

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Church of the Holy Comforter in Johnson County. Now, some stories start with a bang: a battle, a flood, a gunfight at high noon. This one starts with a bishop on the road, and that's fitting, because the road is where it all began.

As early as 1860, the Right Reverend Alexander Gregg, first bishop of Texas, mind you, the very first, was making his way out to Johnson County. Whatever he found out there, it was enough to plant a seed. And seeds, in Texas, have a way of taking their time.

Eleven years would pass before that seed broke ground. In 1871, this parish was formally organized; the first in all of Johnson County. The Reverend Robert S.

Nash stepped in as its first rector, and a congregation called the Holy Comforter got to work. They needed a church. Three years later, in 1874, they had one: the first church building in Cleburne itself, raised up on the northeast corner of Henderson and Robinson.

Now picture that corner. A young town, a young congregation, and a building they built themselves. That's not nothing.

But the story doesn't stop there, and here's where it gets interesting. That first building wasn't the last word. In 1893, during the ministry of the Reverend W.

W. Patrick, a new church went up; the one that still stands today. And here's what the marker wants you to know, the part worth slowing down for: it has been in continuous use ever since, preserved in its original state.

More than a century of Sundays inside those same walls, unchanged. Some things in Texas get torn down, built over, forgotten. This one just kept on going.

What the marker says

As early as 1860, the Rt. Rev. Alexander Gregg, first bishop of Texas, visited Johnson County. This parish, first in the county, was formed 1871; the Rev. Robert S. Nash was first rector. First church building in Cleburne (NE corner, Henderson and Robinson) was completed by congregation of the Holy Comforter in 1874. Present church, built 1893 during ministry of the Rev. W. W. Patrick, has been in continuous use, and is preserved in original state. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1970