First United Methodist Church of Austin

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about the First United Methodist Church of Austin. Settle in, because this congregation has been around longer than just about anything else Protestant in the whole state of Texas. We're talkin' roots that go all the way back to when Austin was barely a city at all.

In 1840, shortly after Austin was incorporated, a Methodist circuit rider by the name of Reverend John Haynie rode in from the Mississippi Conference and gathered fourteen members together to form this fellowship. Fourteen people. You could seat that whole founding congregation at a couple of picnic tables, and yet here they were, building something that would outlast nearly everything around them.

They didn't have a proper building to meet in at first, so they worshiped wherever they could find space — including, and this is the part that gets me, the Capitol building of the Republic of Texas. That's right. The very halls of the republic.

They made do. That's what you do when you believe in something. Then came 1847, and under the pastorate of Reverend Homer S.

Thrall — circuit rider himself and a well-known author of both Texas and Methodist history — the congregation completed their first actual church building. A wooden structure, standing at Congress Avenue and 4th Street. Now that building had a life beyond Sunday services.

In 1853, doctors gathered inside those same wooden walls and formed the Texas Medical Association. A church building that helped birth an entire medical organization for the state. Not many congregations can say that.

By 1854, under Reverend John W. Phillips, the original church was sold, and a new brick edifice went up at Brazos and 10th Street — a step up in permanence, a step up in ambition. Then in 1884, Dr.

A. E. Goodwyn led construction of a larger building at that same site, and for a time this congregation went by the name Tenth Street Methodist Church.

But they weren't done moving, and they weren't done growing. In 1921 the members bought the present property and built the Neo-Classical structure that stands there today. A whole string of pastors put their hands and their years into that building — Dr.

Edward R. Barcus, Dr. W.

F. Bryan, Dr. Marvin S.

Vance, and Dr. Robert S. Tate, Jr. — each one adding to something bigger than any one of them.

And when you step back and look at all of it — the fourteen founding members, the republic's Capitol, the wooden church that helped launch Texas medicine, the brick buildings, the name changes, the new structure — what you're looking at is Austin's second oldest Protestant congregation, still standing, still going. Fourteen people in 1840 didn't just start a church. They started a thread that runs through the whole fabric of this state.

What the marker says

In 1840, shortly after Austin was incorporated, the Rev.John Haynie (1786-1860), a Methodist circuit rider from the Mississippi Conference, led 14 members in forming this fellowship. They worshiped at temporary sites, including the Capitol building of Republic of Texas. In 1847 they completed their first church building, a wooden structure on Congress Avenue and 4th Street, during the pastorate of the Rev. Homer S. Thrall (1819-1894 ), circuit rider and well-known author of Texas and Methodist history. Doctors met in the original building in 1853 to from the Texas Medical Association. In 1854, under the Rev. John W. Phillips ( 1821-1891 ), the original church was sold and a new brick edifice built at Brazos and 10th Street. In 1884 Dr. A. E.Goodwyn (1818-1902) led construction of a larger building at that site. For a time this congregation was called Tenth Street Methodist Church. The members bought the present property in 1921 and built this Neo-Classical structure. Pastors instrumental in building and improving the present church facility include Dr. Edward R. Barcus (1872-1958), Dr. W. F. Bryan (1872-1965) , Dr. Marvin S. Vance (1905-1966) and Dr. Robert S. Tate, Jr. (1914-1976). As Austin's second oldest Protestant congregation this fellowship has made significant contributions to the state's history. (1978)