DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about First United Methodist Church in Fort Worth, Tarrant County. Now, every good story has to start somewhere, and this one starts in the saddle. The year is 1853, and a man named John Wesley Chalk — and yes, that is his actual name, you can't make that up — is riding horseback throughout Tarrant County, an itinerant pastor preachin' wherever folks would have him: houses, public spaces, anywhere a congregation could gather.
No building, no pews, just a man on a horse and a message to deliver. That seed took root. By 1873, the Fort Worth Circuit's membership had grown to more than four hundred and fifty people.
Four hundred and fifty. So the congregation did what any growing outfit does — they bought land. A lot at 4th and Jones Streets, right there in Fort Worth, for the first Methodist church building the city had ever seen.
Construction on that frame structure — they called it Fourth Street Methodist — began on May 15, 1874. But Fort Worth was not a town content to stay small. Membership outgrew that building, and in 1887, the frame structure gave way to a single-story brick edifice.
Bigger, sturdier, more permanent. Still, the people kept coming. By 1908, the congregation — now known as First Methodist Episcopal Church, South — needed something grander still.
They moved into a larger building at 7th and Taylor Streets, holding the formal opening on March 8, 1908, in what was described as one of the most impressive church buildings in all of North Texas. That's not a small claim in a state that does not traffic in understatement. Twenty years on, the property at 7th and Taylor was sold in 1928, and land was purchased at 800 West 5th Street.
Plans were drawn up by W.G. Clarkson and Company, Architects. And then — here is where the story gets the kind of timing that makes you set down your coffee — on October 29, 1929, the day of the worst stock market crash in United States history, ground was officially broken for the new church.
The whole country was watching the financial world come apart at the seams, and right there in Fort Worth, these folks were turning dirt with a shovel, betting on the future. You want to talk about faith? That's faith with a capital F and a side of audacity.
A year later, on October 30, 1930, the members locked the doors of the old church and walked together to the new building. Walked together. There's something about that image that just sits with you.
And what a building they walked into. Gothic Revival in style, inspired by the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France. Triple portal entrance.
Pier buttresses on the uneven corner towers. Tall stained glass lancet windows. Marble-filled arches on the front façade.
A three-story arrangement rising up out of downtown Fort Worth like a declaration. The church's mission carried right on through the decades — outreach to the city's homeless citizens reaching back to the early 1950s, and a television ministry that began weekly broadcasts in March of 1975, carrying the congregation's reach well beyond those Gothic walls. From a man on horseback in 1853 to a cathedral-inspired landmark anchored in the heart of Fort Worth — that's not just a church growing.
That's a community, walking together, one step at a time.
What the marker says
IN 1853, ITINERANT PASTOR JOHN WESLEY CHALK RODE HORSEBACK THROUGHOUT TARRANT COUNTY, PREACHING IN HOUSES AND PUBLIC SPACES. THE FORT WORTH CIRCUIT’S MEMBERSHIP HAD GROWN TO MORE THAN 450 PEOPLE BY 1873, AND A LOT WAS PURCHASED AT 4TH AND JONES STREETS FOR THE FIRST METHODIST CHURCH BUILDING IN FORT WORTH. CONSTRUCTION ON THE FRAME STRUCTURE KNOWN AS FOURTH STREET METHODIST BEGAN ON MAY 15, 1874. MEMBERSHIP OUTGREW THE BUILDING, AND IN 1887, IT WAS REPLACED BY A SINGLE-STORY BRICK EDIFICE. IN 1908, THE CONGREGATION, WHO BY THIS TIME WAS KNOWN AS FIRST METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH, MOVED INTO A LARGER BUILDING ON 7TH AND TAYLOR STREETS, HOLDING ITS FORMAL OPENING ON MAR. 8, 1908 IN ONE OF THE MOST IMPRESSIVE CHURCH BUILDINGS IN NORTH TEXAS. THE PROPERTY WAS SOLD IN 1928 AND LAND WAS SUBSEQUENTLY PURCHASED AT 800 WEST 5TH STREET. PLANS FOR THE BUILDING WERE DRAWN BY W.G. CLARKSON AND COMPANY, ARCHITECTS, AND ON OCT. 29, 1929, THE DAY OF THE WORST STOCK MARKET CRASH IN U.S. HISTORY, GROUND WAS OFFICIALLY BROKEN FOR THE NEW CHURCH. ON OCT. 30, 1930, MEMBERS LOCKED THE DOORS OF THE OLD CHURCH AND WALKED TOGETHER TO THE NEW BUILDING. THE CHURCH IS A GOTHIC REVIVAL BUILDING, INSPIRED BY THE NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL IN PARIS, FRANCE, WITH A TRIPLE PORTAL ENTRANCE, PIER BUTTRESSES ON THE UNEVEN CORNER TOWERS, TALL STAINED GLASS LANCET WINDOWS, MARBLE-FILLED ARCHES ON THE FRONT FAÇADE, AND A THREE-STORY ARRANGEMENT. THE CHURCH’S MISSION TO BE GOD’S PEOPLE IN THE WORLD IS EXEMPLIFIED IN ITS NUMEROUS PROGRAMS INCLUDING OUTREACH TO THE CITY’S HOMELESS CITIZENS SINCE THE EARLY 1950s AND THE FUMC TELEVISION MINISTRY WHICH BEGAN WEEKLY BROADCASTS IN MARCH 1975.