First Christian Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll pass it along just as it reads. Way out in Throckmorton County, before there was much of anything to hang a shingle on, the earliest ranching families of the area still needed a place to worship. So they did what folks do when the land is big and the buildings are few.

They opened their homes to one another, gathered when they could, and welcomed circuit riders passing through when the timing allowed. Camp meetings, too, those open-air gatherings that pulled a scattered community together under the sky. It was one of those camp meetings, in 1904, that set everything in motion.

After that meeting, a man named O.J. Wood conveyed land for a church site. Just like that, the ground was given.

The members got to work, constructed the building themselves, and dedicated it in early 1905. Now, a building is one thing. An organized congregation is another.

Soon after that dedication, members elected deacons and elders and formally organized what would be known as First Christian Church. The first pastor was a Brother Weaver. And the church wasn't just serving souls on Sunday, either.

An early community school met right there in that same building, the congregation sharing its walls with the next generation getting their learning. The church kept growing through the decades, adding structures in the latter half of the twentieth century as the community's needs grew alongside it. More than one hundred years on, First Christian Church is still there, still serving the spiritual needs of the Woodson community.

Started with a camp meeting, a donated plot of land, and neighbors willing to build something together. That's a foundation that tends to hold.

What the marker says

The area's earliest ranching families worshipped in each other's homes, occasionally organizing circuit rider visits and camp meetings. After a camp meeting in 1904, O.J. Wood conveyed land for a church site. Members constructed the church building and dedicated it in early 1905. Soon after, members elected deacons and elders and formally organized First Christian Church, with a Brother Weaver as the first pastor. An early community school met in the church building. The church built additional structures in the latter half of the 20th century. For over one hundred years, First Christian Church has continued to serve the spiritual needs of the Woodson community.