Clark Memorial United Methodist Church

Duane's take

The way the marker tells it, here's the story of Clark Memorial United Methodist Church in Fannin County. Back in 1893, a group of people with something on their minds gathered at the home of a woman named Mrs. S.

J. Stevenson. That was the organizational meeting, right there in her parlor or her sitting room or wherever she had the space to hold them.

No grand building, no steeple catching the light, just folks with a purpose and a good host willing to open her door. And that congregation kept on meeting at the Stevenson home, Sunday after Sunday, for years. Eight years, in fact, before they finally raised a small building on this very site in 1901.

Now, small it may have been, but here's the part worth sitting with: that original building is still standing. Still serving as the sanctuary. Additions have come along over the years, the church complex has grown, but the heart of the thing, that first little structure from 1901, has never been set aside.

Sometime in the 1920s the church took on the name it carries today, Clark Memorial Methodist Church, given in honor of a longtime member, Mrs. John Clark. That's how a congregation says thank you across the years, by putting your name on the door.

And one more thing the record shows about this church: over the course of its life, it has sent a number of ministers out from its own membership. A community that kept meeting, kept building, and kept producing. Started in a living room in 1893, and it's still going strong.

What the marker says

The organizational meeting for this church was held at the home of Mrs. S. J. Stevenson in 1893. The new congregation met for worship at the Stevenson home until 1901 when they constructed a small building on this site. Although many additions to the church complex have been made, the original building still serves as the sanctuary. During the 1920s the church was named Clark Memorial Methodist Church in honor of longtime member Mrs. John Clark. The congregation has produced a number of ministers from its membership.