Eden United Methodist Church

Duane's take

Now, this one comes straight from the official marker, and I'll tell it to you just the way that marker tells it to me. The story of the Eden United Methodist Church, out in Concho County, and it starts, as so many good Texas stories do, with a schoolhouse and a stranger riding in off the road. The first Eden schoolhouse went up in 1885.

No church in sight, but that didn't stop the preachers. Itinerant men of the cloth, riding from town to town, would stop and give sermons right there in that schoolhouse, and folks of every faith would come listen. A community Sunday school took root in that same building, meeting there for several years.

You could say Eden had religion before it had a church to put it in. The First Methodist Sunday school got its own start in 1901, not in a grand hall, not in a proper sanctuary, but in the home of Mr. and Mrs. J.

E. Williams, who lived northeast of Eden in the Maverick community. A family opening their home so a congregation could find its footing.

The Eden Methodist Church, South, is said to have been organized about 1904. Now here is where the story gets interesting, because this community didn't stand on ceremony or on denomination. The Community Ladies' Aid Society, made up of members of all faiths, pooled their efforts and raised funds for a Baptist Church building, which was erected in 1905.

And the Methodists, not yet having a building of their own, held their services right there inside it. Neighbors helping neighbors build a house of God, then sharing the pew. That is an old Texas kind of arrangement.

In 1907 the Methodist congregation purchased a house to use as a parsonage, and it sheltered circuit-riding preachers who came through. Then, the following year, the Reverend G. E.

Glasspool arrived and became the Methodist Church's first full-time pastor. The era of the circuit rider was giving way to something more settled. And in 1909, the Methodist congregation erected its own building at last.

Alterations and additions followed as the congregation kept growing. Then in 1923, the Lutheran Church held services in the Methodist building, carrying forward that same ecumenical spirit that had been woven into Eden's earliest days. Decades passed.

The congregation outgrew what it had. And in March of 1948, they broke ground on a new church building. The woman who turned the first spade of soil that day was Mrs.

Hixie Crump Potter, a charter member. Think about that. A charter member, present at the very beginning, standing there with a spade in her hands to start the next chapter.

The first service in that new sanctuary was held on Easter Sunday, 1949. You could not have chosen a more fitting day. The congregation kept growing, kept thriving, and at the dawn of the twenty-first century, the marker tells us they were still going, still holding to the traditions of those founders who once gathered in a schoolhouse to hear a stranger preach.

Some seeds take a long time to become something solid. This one did not disappoint.

What the marker says

The first Eden schoolhouse was erected in 1885, and itinerant preachers who stopped to give sermons in the schoolhouse attracted people of all faiths. A community Sunday school met in the building for several years. The First Methodist Sunday school was formed in 1901 in the home of Mr. and Mrs. J. E. Williams, who lived northeast of Eden in the Maverick community. The Eden Methodist Church, South, is said to have been organized about 1904. The Community Ladies' Aid Society, consisting of members of all faiths, helped raise funds for a Baptist Church building erected in 1905. The Methodists met in the building until they could erect their own house of worship. The Methodist congregation purchased a house for use as a parsonage in 1907; it housed circuit-riding preachers until the Rev. G. E. Glasspool became the Methodist Church's first full-time pastor the following year. The Methodist Church erected its own building in 1909. Alterations and additions were made as the congregation grew. In 1923 the Lutheran Church held services in the Methodist building, upholding the ecumenical spirit of cooperation of Eden's early days. Mrs. Hixie Crump Potter, a charter member, turned the first spade of soil at the groundbreaking of a new church building in March 1948. The first service in the new sanctuary was held on Easter Sunday, 1949. Church membership grew, and the congregation thrived. At the dawn of the 21st century, the congregation continues in the traditions of its founders with programs of worship and service. (2000)