Encinal Presbyterian Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm gonna pass it along to you. Out here in La Salle County, in the little town of Encinal, there's a church with a story that starts with one man arriving, and ends with another man never leaving. Now settle in, because that's a tale worth telling right.

In 1908, the Rev. Dr. M.

W. Doggett, an evangelist for the Presbytery of Western Texas, organized what would become the Encinal Presbyterian Church. Doggett came through, did what evangelists do, and planted a seed.

Two years later, under the supply pastorate of the Rev. Harry W. Hamilton, the members got to work.

They constructed a church building, right here at this site, a one-room frame sanctuary, modest as the land around it. The property itself was donated by a local rancher named T. A.

Coleman, which tells you something about how a community builds itself, piece by piece, person by person. Now here is where the story takes a turn that only time can deliver. The Rev.

Hamilton had come as a supply pastor. That's a temporary arrangement, the kind of posting where a man passes through. But something about this congregation, or this county, or maybe both, kept him here.

Hamilton was later called as the regular minister. And he served. He kept serving.

All the way until his death in 1940, a pastorate of thirty years. Thirty years in that one-room frame sanctuary. And for much of that time, until 1950, the Encinal Presbyterian Church was the only Protestant fellowship in the entire community.

One church, one congregation, one pastor who came for a season and stayed for a lifetime. That little frame building held a lot of weight for a long time.

What the marker says

This church was organized in 1908 by the Rev. Dr. M. W. Doggett, an evangelist for the Presbytery of Western Texas. Two years later, during the supply pastorate of the Rev. Harry W. Hamilton, members constructed a church building at this site. A one-room frame sanctuary, it was built on property donated by local rancher T. A. Coleman. The Rev. Hamilton was later called as the regular minister and served the congregation until his death in 1940, a pastorate of 30 years. Until 1950 the church was the only Protestant fellowship in the community.