Decker United Methodist Church and Community

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way out on Decker Creek, east of Austin, a story took root that most folks rolling past never stop to consider. It starts with Swedish immigrants, the first settlers in this area, making the long haul out to a new country, a new state, a new creek, and for a good stretch of years, from 1867 into the 1870s, if they wanted church, they made the trip into Austin to get it.

Now that is commitment. That is faith with road dust on its boots. Then, beginning in 1871, the Rev.

C. C. Charnquist of Austin started riding out the other direction, bringing the sermon to the people, preaching in homes along Decker Creek.

No building, no pews, just a parlor, a congregation, and whatever the Reverend had prepared that week. More settlers came. The community grew.

And when a community grows, it starts wanting something that lasts. So they built a church, and they didn't just open the doors on any ordinary Sunday. They dedicated it at Pentecost, 1879.

That timing was no accident. Well, the marker doesn't say it was an accident, and it doesn't say it wasn't, so I'll leave that right where it sits. By 1882, a public school was opened, and by 1884 the church itself had grown large enough that they enlarged the building and added a parsonage.

One decade on Decker Creek, and what had started in somebody's front room now had a school and a parsonage and an expanded sanctuary to show for it. But the chapter that really sealed the place came during the pastorate of the Rev. C.

O. Freeman, 1901 to 1902, when the present sanctuary was erected. That building is still standing.

And the story keeps going, because in 1967 a large modern wing was added. Swedish immigrants praying in parlors, a Pentecost dedication, a pastor who built something meant to last, and a congregation that never stopped growing into it. That's Decker Creek.

What the marker says

First settlers in this area on Decker Creek were Swedish immigrants, who attended church in Austin from 1867 to 1870s. Beginning in 1871, the Rev. C. C. Charnquist of Austin preached in homes. With advent of more settlers, a church was erected and dedicated at Pentecost, 1879. In 1882, a public school was opened. In 1884, the church was enlarged and a parsonage built. In the Pastorate (1901-02) of the Rev. C. O. Freeman, the present sanctuary was erected. The large modern wing was added in 1967. (1973)