DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about First Christian Church in Arlington, Tarrant County. Now settle in, because this is one of those stories that starts small — real small — and just keeps on growing. It was 1882, and Arlington was still a young town finding its footing, when the Reverend William H.
Wright gathered together a small group of Christians. That's it. That's your whole origin.
A preacher and a handful of faithful folks in a town that hadn't yet figured out what it wanted to be when it grew up. But here's the thing about small beginnings — don't you count them out. The Reverend Wright spent the better part of a decade shaping that little gathering, and in 1890 he formally organized what would become First Christian Church, Disciples of Christ.
Once they had a name and a mission, they started building. Church trustees purchased two lots at the corner of Mesquite and South Streets in 1892, and by 1895 and into 1896 the congregation had erected its very first sanctuary on that ground. Right around that same time — 1895 — three members of this church helped found Arlington College, the institution we now know as The University of Texas at Arlington.
The marker doesn't call that a coincidence; it calls it the beginning of a close association with the University that continues to this day. The congregation kept reaching. In 1919 they built a new church building at the corner of Abram and Mesquite.
Nearly thirty years on, in 1948, they called their first full-time pastor — which tells you something about how long and how hard volunteers had been carrying that load. Then in 1957 the congregation moved into a new brick sanctuary, right here on this site. And if you thought they might slow down after that, well — in 1977 First Christian helped establish Rush Creek Christian Church, and in 1988 they helped bring Saint Andrew Christian Church into the world.
Two more congregations born from the same seed that Reverend Wright planted back in 1882. By the time this marker was set down in 1993, First Christian could look back on more than a century of Bible lectures, educational services, social and musical ministries, Mother's Day Out programs, pastoral counseling, and televised ministry reaching well past the Arlington city limits. One small group of Christians in a young Texas town — and look what they went and built.
What the marker says
This congregation traces its origin to a small group of Christians gathered together by the Rev. William H. Wright in the young town of Arlington in 1882. In its first century it has involved into one of Arlington's leading religious institutions whose Bible lectures, educational services, and social and musical ministries reach into the local community and beyond. The Rev. Mr. Wright formally organized First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in 1890. The congregation erected its first sanctuary in 1895-96 on two lots at the corner of Mesquite and South Streets purchased by church trustees in 1892. Three church members who helped found Arlington College (The University of Texas at Arlington) in 1895 began a close association with the University which continues today. First Christian built a new church building at the corner of Abram and Mesquite in 1919 and called their first full-time pastor in 1948. The congregation moved to a new brick sanctuary here in 1957. First Christian helped establish Rush Creek Christian Church in 1977 and Saint Andrew Christian Church in 1988. The congregation continues to serve the community with a variety of social programs, including Mother's Day Out, pastoral counseling, and televised ministries. (1993)