First Methodist Church

Duane's take

The way the marker tells it, here's the story of the First Methodist Church of Navarro County, and it's a good one. Now, most churches are content to be just churches. A place to gather, to worship, to mark the passages of a life.

And this one did all of that, starting in 1851 when it was founded. Twenty years later, in 1871, they raised up a proper sanctuary — solid walls, a roof overhead, the whole thing. Ought to have been a moment of quiet satisfaction.

Except the ink on the consecration hadn't even dried. Hadn't dried, in fact, because the sanctuary wasn't yet consecrated at all when, in 1872, the State Democratic Convention came knockin'. And they didn't come for a hymn sing.

They came to lay plans — their word, their purpose — to free Texas from Reconstruction rule. Right there, in that brand-new, not-yet-blessed building, the political fate of the state was being hammered out. You have to appreciate a church that hits the ground running like that.

Then 1880 rolls around, and this congregation does something that — depending on how you count these things — nobody west of the Mississippi had done before. They organized the first missionary society west of that great river. First one.

Right here. And somewhere along the way, a young man named H. A.

Boaz stood in this church and was ordained. Now, ordination is a beginning, not an ending, and Boaz went on to become president of Polytechnic College, then president of S.M.U., and ultimately a bishop. The road that carried him to all of that started right here, in this sanctuary that wasn't even consecrated when history first came calling.

Some buildings just seem to have a gift for being exactly where things happen.

What the marker says

Founded 1851; sanctuary built 1871 was not yet consecrated when State Democratic Convention met here 1872 and laid plans to free Texas from Reconstruction rule. First missionary society west of the Mississippi organized here, 1880. H. A. Boaz, ordained here, later became president of Polytechnic College, S. M. U., and a bishop. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1967