First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of Kerrville

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way back in the early 1880s, a small group of pioneer women in Kerrville decided something needed to be done. No committee of civic leaders, no wealthy benefactor with his name on a plaque.

Just a handful of women, going door to door, collecting funds. And what they built with those funds was a Union church, a sanctuary completed in 1885 that was meant to be shared. Shared by Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, the Christian Disciples of Christ fellowship, and others besides.

All of them under one modest roof, in a town still finding its feet. Now, that arrangement held for many years. Decades, in fact.

Different congregations, different traditions, filing in and out of the same building like neighbors borrowing the same porch. But things have a way of shifting, slowly and then all at once. Through the efforts of Reverend P.

E. Hawkins and Dr. H.

R. Wall, the First Christian Church of Kerrville was granted sole ownership of that Union building in 1925. The church those pioneer women scraped together the money to build had found its permanent home.

And from there, the congregation kept growing outward, its members becoming active in outreach and missionary programs across the years. A small group of women with a collection tin in the early 1880s. That is where it all started.

What the marker says

In the early 1880s a small group of pioneer Kerrville women collected funds to build a Union church, and a small sanctuary was completed in 1885. Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, and other congregations shared the building with the Christian (Disciples of Christ) Fellowship for many years. Through the efforts of the Rev. P. E. Hawkins and Dr. H. R. Wall, the First Christian Church of Kerrville was granted sole ownership of the Union building in 1925. Through the years, its members have become active in outreach and missionary programs. (1985)