First Christian Church of Midland

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Back in 1890, sixteen people decided Midland needed a First Christian Church. Sixteen.

Not a hundred, not fifty. Sixteen souls who met in each other's living rooms and parlors, because that's all they had. No steeple, no pews, no Sunday program printed on good paper.

Just private homes and a shared conviction that something worth building was worth starting small. They chartered that church, and they got to work. For two years, those homes served as the sanctuary.

Then 1892 came around, and things began to change. Now, every good story has someone who reaches into their pocket at just the right moment, and this one is no different. Charter member S.

E. Townsend pledged three hundred dollars toward the first of two downtown church buildings. Three hundred dollars from a charter member.

That's not just a donation, that's a declaration. That's somebody saying: this thing is real, and I'm putting my name and my money behind it. The tradition of service to that church and that community, the marker says, began right there.

The congregation kept growin, steady and sure, the way things grow when people tend them carefully over decades. And by 1950, they had erected a large building out on the northwestern edge of Midland, adding onto it as the need arose. From sixteen people in somebody's front room to a congregation large enough to anchor the edge of a city.

In 1990, a hundred years after those first sixteen gathered, the First Christian Church of Midland celebrated its centennial and kept right on serving, outreach programs and religious activities carrying forward what started with a charter and a pledge. Sixteen members. One promise.

A hundred years, and counting.

What the marker says

Chartered in 1890, the First Christian Church of Midland was organized by sixteen members who met in private homes until 1892. Tradition of service to the church and community began when charter member S. E. Townsend pledged $300 toward the first of two downtown church buildings. The church grew steadily; by 1950 the congregation had erected a large building on the northwestern edge of Midland, making additions as needed. In 1990, the congregation celebrated its 100th anniversary and continues to serve the community with a variety of outreach programs and religious activities. (1997)