First Christian Church of Big Spring

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm gonna pass it along to you. The year was 1882, and Howard County was just getting itself formally organized, still finding its feet on the West Texas plains. Right in the middle of all that, seven people, just seven, decided it was time to start something lasting.

They established what would become the First Christian Church of Big Spring. Seven charter members. Not a grand hall, not a steeple in sight.

They held their first worship services in somebody's home, the home of Mr. and Mrs. I. D.

Eddins. Now that's how you build a church, around a kitchen and a calling. Their first pastor was The Reverend J.

Wright, and from that modest beginning those members rolled up their sleeves and constructed a small frame sanctuary over on 305 Gregg. A real building. A place of their own.

But here's the thing about a congregation with that kind of start in its bones. It grew. It kept growing.

And when it outgrew Gregg Street, they built new facilities on Scurry Street. And when Scurry Street wasn't enough either, they moved again, out to the very site where that marker stands today. Over a century of Sundays.

Under the direction of several prominent Disciples of Christ leaders, the First Christian Church has been, as that marker puts it, a vital force in Big Spring. Started with seven people in a borrowed living room the same year the county came into being, and it's been here ever since. Some things, once rooted in West Texas soil, just don't let go.

What the marker says

In 1882, the same year Howard County was formally organized, this congregation was established with seven charter members. Worship services were first conducted in the home of Mr. and Mrs. I. D. Eddins. The first pastor was The Rev. J. Wright. Members constructed a small frame sanctuary at 305 Gregg, but as the congregation grew, new facilities were built on Scurry Street and later at this site. For over a century, under the direction of several prominent Disciples of Christ leaders, the First Christian Church has been a vital force in Big Spring. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986.