First Presbyterian Church of Temple

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, Temple, Texas has itself a particular kind of story when it comes to firsts, and this one goes all the way back to October 19, 1881. That was the day the First Presbyterian Church of Temple was organized, making it the very first church established in the whole town.

Think about that for a moment. The town was fresh, the streets were new, and before just about anything else took root, this congregation did. The man at the helm of that founding moment was A.A.

Black, and he didn't do it alone. He had the Rev. C.W.

Peyton and the Rev. R.M. Tuttle standing alongside him, and together they got things moving.

Now here's a detail worth savoring. Those 24 charter members, every single one of them, had been dismissed from the Belton Presbyterian Church, specifically so they could go found the Temple congregation. Dismissed in the service of something new.

Twenty-four people carrying a charge, a purpose, and presumably a good deal of faith in what a brand new town could become. The congregation needed a home, of course, and the first two buildings they called home sat on the southwest corner of North First and Barton. Two buildings came and went, each one a chapter.

Then came the third. Construction on the present facility broke ground in 1929, during the pastorate of the Rev. Michael Mar Yosip.

A third building, still standing. The first church in Temple, still going. Some things, it turns out, are built to last longer than the lumber they're made of.

What the marker says

The first church established in Temple, this congregation was organized on October 19, 1881, under the leadership of A.A. Black, with the assistance of the Rev. C.W. Peyton and the Rev. R.M. Tuttle. The 24 charter members had been dismissed from the Belton Presbyterian Church in order to found the Temple congregation. The first and second buildings for the church were located on the southwest corner of North First and Barton. Construction of the present facility, the third for the congregation, began in 1929, during the pastorate of the Rev. Michael Mar Yosip. (1982)