DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna give it its due. Now, you want to talk about a man who never took a dime for his preaching — not one red cent — let me tell you about Philip Miner and the church he planted in El Paso. Miner was born in 1825, a Pennsylvania man by origin and a blacksmith by trade.
That's worth sitting with for a second. A blacksmith. A man who spent his days bending iron to his will, and apparently decided souls were worth the same kind of patient, deliberate work.
He came to Texas in 1849, and from that point forward, he threw himself into building churches and public schools wherever he landed. That was just who he was. In 1883, he packed up his wife and five children and came to El Paso.
And sure enough, it didn't take long. By 1885, he had organized the First Christian Church of El Paso — thirteen charter members to start. Thirteen.
Not a crowd, but then, most things worth buildin' don't start with a crowd. And here's the part I keep coming back to: Miner refused any pay for his preaching services. None.
The man organized the congregation, he preached, he shepherded, and he did it all without collecting so much as a handshake fee. It wasn't until 1890 that the church brought on its first salaried pastor — the Reverend Francis Brunner. Philip Miner, who died in 1901, apparently had other currency in mind.
For those early years, the congregation held worship services in a whole variety of locations around south El Paso. No permanent home, just a people moving together, making do. That kind of thing either pulls a congregation apart or welds it tight.
Then in 1895, something shifted. A man named Reverend J. C.
Mason happened to be vacationing in the city — just passing through, mind you — and somehow he led the congregation to build a sanctuary of their own at 107 Myrtle Avenue. A vacationer walked in and helped change the course of the church. El Paso will do that to a person.
But the story wasn't done movin'. On March 4, 1904, they laid the cornerstone for a new church building at Oregon and Franklin Streets. That building went up during the ministry of the Reverend E.
M. Waits — and if that name rings a bell, it should. Waits later served as president of Texas Christian University, from 1916 to 1941.
The man who oversaw a cornerstone laying in El Paso went on to lead one of Texas's great universities. The congregation he served was just one chapter in a longer story. Decades rolled on, and El Paso kept growing.
On November 5, 1950, ground breaking ceremonies were held for yet another new church home — this one at 901 Arizona Avenue. Every new address a marker of the city expanding around them. And that's the thread running through all of it.
From Philip Miner's thirteen charter members in 1885, through the wandering worship services, the borrowed sanctuaries, the cornerstones and ground breakings — the First Christian Church of El Paso has kept helping establish other Disciples of Christ congregations as the city grew up around it. A blacksmith from Pennsylvania came to El Paso and built something that outlasted him by generations. He never took a penny for it.
Some foundations are just like that — you don't see the iron in them until you try to move what's standing on top.
What the marker says
This congregation was organized by Philip Miner in 1885 with thirteen charter members. Miner (1825-1901), a native of Pennsylvania and a blacksmith by trade, came to El Paso in 1883 with his wife and five children. Since coming to Texas in 1849, he had been very involved in the establishment of churches and public schools, and he continued this activity in El Paso with the founding of this fellowship. Miner refused any pay for his preaching services. The Rev. Francis Brunner became the church's first salaried pastor in 1890. Early worship services were held in a variety of locations in south El Paso. In 1895, while vacationing in the city, the Rev. J. C. Mason led the congregation to build a sanctuary of its own at 107 Myrtle Avenue. On March 4, 1904, the cornerstone was laid for a new church building at Oregon and Franklin Streets. It was built during the ministry of the Rev. E. M. Waits, who later served as president of Texas Christian University from 1916 to 1941. On November 5, 1950, ground breaking ceremonies were held for a new church home at 901 Arizona Avenue. First Christian Church of El Paso has helped to establish other Disciples of Christ congregations as the city's population has grown. 1985