First Methodist Church of Shiner

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the First Methodist Church of Shiner, over in Lavaca County. November 1, 1887. That's the date you want to hold onto.

Because on that day, in the office of a man named L. P. Amsler, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, of Shiner, Texas, was organized.

Now, Amsler wasn't just any fellow with a convenient office. He was Shiner's first mayor. And the Reverend C.

C. Armstrong presided over that first service. You could say the whole thing started right at the top.

Two years later, in 1889, a local rancher by the name of David Kokernot donated a small building to the community. That building got relocated to a town lot, and the Shiner Townsite Company deeded that lot to the church. Here's the part that makes you smile a little.

The upper floor of that building housed a Masonic Lodge. The ground floor was where the Methodist congregation held its services. Two very different groups of people, sharing one roof, each keeping to their own floor.

Texas has always had a practical streak. Then came 1890, and a woman named Eliza Amsler Welhausen formed a Sunday school. The congregation was growing, putting down roots, taking on shape.

That original Masonic Lodge and church building was eventually relocated, and in 1914 a new sanctuary was erected. The congregation had begun as a mission church, served by circuit preachers on a part-time basis, and it stayed that way for a good long stretch. It wasn't until 1950 that a full-time pastor was appointed.

By that point the congregation had also formed a Vacation Bible School and a women's society. They'd built something worth tending to. And the wider Methodist world took notice.

In 1954, the congregation was recognized as the outstanding rural church of the Southwest Methodist Conference. That's not a small thing, out there among all the rural churches of the Southwest. Then came 1961.

The Welhausen Land and Cattle Company donated 6.4 acres, right here, and on that land the congregation built a new three-level complex. Three levels for three distinct fields of activity: worship, education, and fellowship. Each floor with its purpose.

A church that started on the ground floor of a borrowed building, sharing space with a Masonic Lodge, had grown into something with three levels all its own. From one room in a mayor's office to three levels on 6.4 acres. Shiner's First Methodist Church didn't just survive.

It kept building.

What the marker says

The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, of Shiner, Texas, was organized on November 1, 1887, in the office of L. P. Amsler, Shiner's first mayor. The Rev. C. C. Armstrong presided over the first service. In 1889 local rancher David Kokernot donated a small building to the community which was relocated to a town lot deeded to the church by the Shiner Townsite Company. The upper floor of the building housed a Masonic Lodge and the ground floor was used for services of the Methodist congregation. Eliza Amsler Welhausen formed a Sunday school in 1890. The original Masonic Lodge/church building was relocated and a new sanctuary was erected in 1914. The congregation began as a mission church and continued to be served by circuit preachers on a part-time basis until 1950 when a full-time pastor was appointed. By that time the congregation had formed a Vacation Bible School and a women's society. In 1954 the congregation was recognized as the outstanding rural church of the Southwest Methodist Conference. A new three-level complex, built here in 1961 on 6.4 acres donated by the Welhausen Land and Cattle Company, represents the congregation's three distinct fields of activity: worship, education, and fellowship. Sesquicentennial of Texas Statehood 1845-1995