DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the First Christian Church of Anna, over in Collin County. Now, to understand where this church came from, you've got to go back — way back — to 1846, when the land up in northern Collin County was about as frontier as frontier gets. Two pioneer settlers, Collin McKinney and J.B.
Wilmeth, founded Liberty Christian Church out there in that raw country. The marker calls it one of the earliest Christian churches in all of Texas. One of the earliest.
In all of Texas. Let that settle for a second. By 1854, the Liberty congregation had put down enough roots that its members established a Christian seminary — about two miles northwest of where we're standing now — in a newly established community called Mantua.
A church. A seminary. A community taking shape.
Things were looking promising for Mantua. And then came the railroad. In 1872, the Houston and Texas Central Railroad extended its track on a north-south route — several miles east of Mantua.
Not through Mantua. East of it. Now, if you know anything about Texas towns and railroads, you already know what's coming.
Mantua soon declined, while new railroad towns rose up to take its place. Van Alstyne over in Grayson County, and Anna — right here — both developed in the early 1880s. According to local tradition, Mantua's Christian congregation didn't disappear.
It split — some folks going one way toward Van Alstyne, some the other way toward Anna. And here in Anna, it was a woman named Rebecca Sherley — a former Mantua church member and an early Anna resident — who helped organize the First Christian Church of Anna in 1882. The Reverend Alf Douglas served as its first pastor.
With no sanctuary yet to their name, the congregation held services in the Sherley home. They worshipped there, gathered there, built something real inside those walls. And then, in 1886, that home burned.
But here's the thing about a congregation that had already survived the death of one town and the splitting of one church: they didn't quit. Around 1890, the first sanctuary was built — right here, on the very site of the former Sherley home. On the same ground where they'd first gathered.
Major additions to the rear of that sanctuary were completed in 1949, and First Christian Church of Anna continues to this day, serving the community with spiritual guidance and various educational programs. From a pioneer founding in 1846, to a seminary in a vanished town, to a split, a fresh start, a home that burned, and a church built from the ashes — this congregation has been through just about everything Texas could throw at it. And it's still here.
What the marker says
Liberty Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), one of the earliest Christian churches in Texas, was founded in northern Collin County by pioneer settlers Collin McKinney and J.B. Wilmeth in 1846. In 1854 a Christian seminary was established by members of the Liberty congregation about two miles northwest of here in the newly established community of Mantua. The Houston and Texas Central Railroad extended its track in a North-South route several miles east of Mantua in 1872. Mantua soon declined in favor of the new railroad towns of Van Alstyne (Grayson County) and Anna which developed here in the early 1880s. According to local tradition Mantua's Christian congregation split between the two new communities. Former Mantua church members and early Anna resident Rebecca Sherley helped organize the First Christian Church of Anna in 1882. The Rev. Alf Douglas served as first pastor. Services were held in the Sherley home until it burned in 1886. About 1890 the first sanctuary was built here at the site of the former Sherley home. Major additions to the rear of the sanctuary were completed in 1949. First Christian continues to serve the community with spiritual guidance and various educational programs. (1994)