DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the marker on First Presbyterian Church of Rusk tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, Rusk, Texas had barely drawn its first breath as a city when the Presbyterians showed up. One year after the city's founding — that's how close to the beginning we're talkin' — the Cumberland Presbyterian Church of Rusk was organized.
The date was May 2, 1847, and the man who did the organizin' was the Reverend J. B. Harris.
He gathered up a charter membership of four souls. Four. You could fit the whole congregation in a buckboard with room left over for the hymnals.
But they got to work. By 1850, they had a Sunday School up and runnin', and here's a thing worth noting — it wasn't just for Presbyterians. It existed as a Union school all the way through the 1880s, shared with whoever needed it.
And that spirit ran deep in Rusk, because the Presbyterian church building itself was used by various denominations. These were people who understood that a roof over a congregation's head was a gift worth sharing. Now, across town — or perhaps just across the street, the marker doesn't say exactly how far — a whole separate Presbyterian story was unfolding.
The Old School congregation of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. was organized in March of 1831 by not one but two reverends: J. M. Becton and J.
C. Sharp. Eight charter members this time — twice the crowd of that first group, if you're keepin' score.
In 1854 they built themselves a proper sanctuary right there on Henderson Street. Then came 1888 and 1889, and a parsonage was added — and the marker is careful to say it happened largely through the efforts of the Ladies' Aid Society. Largely.
That word is doin' a lot of honest work. So now you've got two Presbyterian congregations in the same town, one organized in 1847, one in 1831, both with their own buildings, their own histories, their own sense of purpose. How long could that last?
April 6, 1906. That's the day. The two congregations united to form the First Presbyterian Church of Rusk.
And they didn't just shake hands and share a pew — they acquired new property, and they moved both church buildings to the new site. Moved them. Physically relocated two church buildings.
The Old School church was converted into a parsonage, which means one congregation's sanctuary became the other congregation's home. There's a metaphor in there somewhere, but the story doesn't need one. They hit the ground building.
The present sanctuary went up in 1913 and 1914, and when it was finished, Rusk had something it had never had before — a brick church. The first one in town. Then in 1925, a new parsonage was added, and the place kept on keepin' on.
From four charter members gathered by Reverend Harris on a spring day in 1847, through a Union Sunday School, through shared buildings and ecumenical handshakes, through the Ladies' Aid Society and two congregations finally becoming one — the First Presbyterian Church of Rusk has been at it since before most of the town knew what it was going to be. That's not just history. That's foundation.
What the marker says
The Cumberland Presbyterian Church of Rusk was organized on May 2, 1847 by the Rev. J. B. Harris, with a charter membership of four. A Sunday School was begun in 1850, and existed as a Union school until the 1880s. Ecumenical relationships were strong with other churches in town, and the Presbyterian church building was used by various denominations. The "Old School" congregation of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. was organized in March 1831 by the Rev. J. M. Becton and the Rev. J. C. Sharp, with eight charter members. A sanctuary was built on Henderson Street in 1854, and a parsonage was added in 1888-1889, largely through the efforts of the Ladies' Aid Society. The two congregations united to form the First Presbyterian Church on April 6, 1906. This property was acquired, and both church buildings were moved to the new site. The "Old School" church was converted to a parsonage. The present sanctuary was built in 1913-14, and was the first brick church in Rusk. A new parsonage was added in 1925. Throughout its history, which began one year after the city's founding, the Presbyterian church has sought to serve its community with outreach programs.