First Presbyterian Church of Palacios

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the First Presbyterian Church of Palacios. Now settle in, because this is a story about a church that started with eighteen people and a borrowed hall, and it never once stopped moving. On June 30, 1907, the Reverend W.

S. Red organized the First Presbyterian Church of Palacios right there inside the local Methodist Church Pioneer Hall. Eighteen souls joined that congregation on that single day, and the marker takes care to note that many of them were already active in the early growth of Palacios itself.

These weren't folks who sat still. William Clement was elected ruling elder. And one of the founding members, a man named Duncan Ruthven, would go on to be elected mayor when Palacios was incorporated, in 1909.

You plant that kind of seed on June 30th, and by 1909 one of your founding members is running the whole town. That's the kind of congregation this was. By 1910 they had a building of their own, completed at Third and Morton streets, built at a cost of five thousand, three hundred and ninety-three dollars and two cents.

Two cents. Somebody was keeping very close books. Then in May of 1911, the congregation called Dr.

J. P. Green as its first full-time pastor, and that November the church was chartered by the state of Texas.

Official. On the books. And they weren't resting.

By 1912 the congregation had put together a Sunday School, the Westminster League, and a Ladies' Aid and Missionary Society, and that same year they established a Mexican mission. That is a lot of building for five years of existence. The decades kept coming, and this church kept answering.

During World War II, a soldiers' center operated by the church was important to nearby Camp Hulen. Think about what that meant to the men passing through. In 1948 an education building was completed.

In 1951 a new sanctuary was dedicated. And in 1955, the Mexican mission that the congregation had planted back in 1912 became the second Presbyterian church of Palacios. A mission that grew into its own church.

Now here is where the story gets its full weight. The marker tells us the congregation has long been active in the cooperation of religious denominations and the improvement of racial relations in Palacios. In the 1960s, church women worked toward the desegregation of Palacios public schools.

And alongside Methodist, Catholic, and Baptist churches, members sponsored a multi-racial tutorial program. Different faiths, different backgrounds, one shared table of work. Then in 1975, the congregation sponsored a Vietnamese family immigrating to the United States.

From that first borrowed hall in 1907 to a family arriving from halfway around the world in 1975, the reach just kept widening. The marker closes by saying the First Presbyterian Church of Palacios continues in the traditions of its founders, active in worship and in service to its diverse community and its mission worldwide. Eighteen people on a summer day in 1907.

And they are still at it.

What the marker says

The First Presbyterian Church of Palacios was organized by the Rev. W.S. Red on June 30, 1907, in the local Methodist Church Pioneer Hall. Eighteen people joined the congregation that day, many of them active in the early growth of Palacios itself. William Clement was elected ruling elder. Duncan Ruthven, a founding member, was elected mayor when Palacios was incorporated in 1909. A church building was completed at Third and Morton streets in 1910, built at a cost of $5,393.02. In May 1911 the congregation called Dr. J. P. Green as its first full-time pastor, and the church was chartered by the state of Texas that November. By 1912 church organizations included the Sunday School, the Westminster League, and a Ladies' Aid and Missionary Society. The congregation established a Mexican mission that year. An education building was completed in 1948. during World War II, a soldiers' center operated by the church was important to nearby Camp Hulen. A new sanctuary was dedicated in 1951. The Mexican mission became the second Presbyterian church of Palacios in 1955. The congregation has long been active in the cooperation of religious denominations and the improvement of racial relations in Palacios. Church women worked toward the desegregation of Palacios public schools in the 1960s and, with Methodist, Catholic and Baptist churches, members sponsored a multi-racial tutorial program. In 1975 the congregation sponsored a Vietnamese family immigrating to the United States. The First Presbyterian Church of Palacios continues in the traditions of its founders, active in worship and in service to its diverse community and its mission worldwide. (1999)