DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll pass it along just as it stands. Now, if you want to talk about old Palo Pinto County, you could do a lot worse than start right here — with the oldest church building in the whole county, and a congregation believed to have been the first of any faith worshipping in these parts. Any faith.
That's not a small claim, and nobody's come along to argue it down. The story begins in 1857, in the home of a man named Dr. Stephen S.
Taylor, a lay preacher. No grand sanctuary, no steeple catching the morning light — just a home, and people gathered inside it with something to believe in. From that beginning, the congregation kept on.
Kept on through the years, kept on through whatever Palo Pinto County threw at them, until finally, in 1882 and into 1883, the members built themselves a proper church building. Now, 1883 also brought a storm — and that storm did its damage. But here's the thing about this congregation: the building didn't fall, and it didn't close.
It has been in continuous use from that day to this, and along the way it even opened its doors to other faiths during their own early years, when they needed a place to stand. That kind of generosity tends to stick in a community's memory. And the names that passed through this little church — well.
Addison Clark and Randolph Clark, the very founders of Texas Christian University, served as early pastors here. The founders of a university, preaching in a church that started in somebody's living room in 1857. Palo Pinto County has a way of growing things quietly, and then one day you look up and realize what was always standing there.
What the marker says
Oldest church building in Palo Pinto, for congregation believed to have been first of any faith worshipping here. Organized 1857 in home of Dr. Stephen S. Taylor, a lay preacher. Members built church in 1882-1883. Despite 1883 storm damage, building has been in continuous use -- sometimes by other faiths during their early years. Addison and Randolph Clark, founders of Texas Christian University, were early pastors. (1968)