DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the First Methodist Church of Oglesby, over in Coryell County. Now settle in, because this little congregation has seen some things. The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, got itself organized in Oglesby in 1891, and right out of the gate it was no small operation — fifty-six members in that very first year.
Their first pastor went by the name Reverend J. David Crockett, and you have to figure a man carrying that name knew something about facing the unexpected. Good thing, too.
Because the congregation built themselves a church structure in 1891, and then — 1893 — a tornado came along and destroyed it. Just like that. Gone.
Now, most folks might take that as a sign. These folks took it as a to-do list. That same year, 1893, they completed a second structure.
They were not the type to sit around feeling sorry for themselves. That second building served its purpose, but the congregation wasn't finished yet. By 1912, they replaced it with something that clearly meant to stay — a late Victorian-Era Queen Anne style building, the one standing to this day.
It features a symmetrical form with a central gable and flanking bell towers, the kind of architecture that says we have been here, we are here, and we intend to keep being here. And they have kept being here — sponsoring an annual harvest festival to fund missionaries throughout the world, reaching as far as Japan and Africa. From a tornado-flattened lot in 1893 to the far corners of the earth.
That's a congregation that learned early on you just keep building.
What the marker says
This congregation was organized in 1891 as the Methodist Episcopal Church, south, and boasted 56 members in its first year. The Rev. J. David Crockett served as its first pastor. A church structure built in 1891 was destroyed by a tornado in 1893. A second structure completed by the congregation that year was replaced by this late Victorian-Era Queen Anne style building in 1912. It features a symmetrical form with a central gable and flanking bell towers. The church has sponsored an annual harvest festival to fund missionaries throughout the world, including Japan and Africa.