First Christian Church of Center

Duane's take

Here's the story as the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna do it justice. Way back in 1856, a small group of people in Shelby County sat down together and decided they were going to build something that would last. They called themselves what would become the First Christian Church of Center, and from the very beginning, the names behind it read like a roll call of determined East Texas folks.

Mr. and Mrs. T. H.

Day. Mr. and Mrs. George King.

Major and Mrs. Alfred Truitt. Mr. and Mrs.

Leggett. P. F.

Southern, Council Billingsley, Alfred Padon, W. S. Dabney, and George Weaver.

That's who showed up when it mattered. Now, they didn't have a building. Not yet.

For years, this congregation gathered in a house, out in the Pleasant Grove community, and lay members, not ordained clergy, stepped up and led the services themselves. There's something quietly remarkable about that. Ordinary people, keeping the faith going on their own terms, for decade after decade.

It wasn't until 1886 that a proper church building finally went up. And even then, the congregation kept growing, kept maturing, until 1893, when they called the Reverend W. L.

Morrow to serve as their very first pastor. Then comes 1905, and a new sanctuary rises. A real one.

Solid enough that in 1930, the whole structure was picked up and moved to this very site where the marker stands today. One of the oldest congregations in Shelby County, formed in 1856, still standing. And here's the part that'll stay with you: in the fellowship today are several descendants of those original charter members.

The names on that founding roll call, their people are still there. Some stories don't end. They just keep going.

What the marker says

Formed in 1856, this congregation is one of the oldest in Shelby County. Mr. and Mrs. T. H. Day, Mr. and Mrs. George King, Major and Mrs. Alfred Truitt, Mr. and Mrs. Leggett, P. F. Southern, Council Billingsley, Alfred Padon, W. S. Dabney, and George Weaver were among its founders. Services were held in a house in Pleasant Grove community until a church building was erected in 1886. Initially led by lay members, the church called the Rev. W. L. Morrow as its first pastor (1893). Built in 1905, the present sanctuary was moved to this site in 1930. In the fellowship now are several descendants of charter members.