First United Methodist Church of Ganado

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way out in Jackson County, in the town of Ganado, there stands a congregation with roots so deep they go back before the town itself had much shape at all. The First United Methodist Church of Ganado.

And friend, this is a story worth slowing down for. Now, the church was formally organized in 1880, by the Reverend M. A.

Black and the Reverend T. R. Stewart.

But here's the thing. Methodists in that area, under the leadership of a man named S. C.

A. Rodgers, had already been gathering. Had been meeting.

Before the paperwork, before the organization, there was the meeting. There was the faith. It started the way so many things started on the Texas frontier.

Brush arbor meetings. You know the kind. Branches lashed together overhead, open sky peeking through, early morning air still cool, voices rising up from the Ganado area before the day had fully made up its mind.

And that congregation, from the very beginning, included both Anglo and African Americans. That's worth saying plain and letting it sit a moment. The first building they called their own was a chapel made of hewn logs.

And because a community needs more than one thing at a time, that same log chapel pulled double duty as a schoolhouse. One building, two purposes, a whole community leaning on it. Then there were the circuit-riding ministers.

Men on horseback, covering ground that would tire out most folks just to look at on a map, riding out to serve this community and others spread across the region. They came when they could, and when they came, it mattered. Time moved on, as time does.

In May of 1895, the trustees purchased land at East Devers and Second streets. And by the end of that same year, a white frame sanctuary had been erected right there. They even attached an arbor to the back of the church, so when the weather was willing, services could spill outside again, a little echo of those early brush arbor days.

But congregations have a way of growing. By 1927 the membership had outgrown that frame church, and in 1928 they built a larger brick sanctuary, this time at Third and Devers streets. Brick now.

Permanent. Settled. Then 1959 brought a spacious new church building, completed right here on this ground.

From hewn logs to a white frame to brick to something new and spacious, each building a chapter, each chapter built on the one before. The congregation today still provides traditional programs for its members, still reaches out into the surrounding area. And the marker puts it simply: this church continues to be an integral part of the community, as it has for more than a century.

A brush arbor in the Ganado area, some horseback preachers, and a people who kept showing up. That's the foundation. Everything else is just what they built on top of it.

What the marker says

Although this church was formally organized in 1880 by the Reverend M. A. Black and the Reverend T. R. Stewart, Methodists, under the leadership of S. C. A. Rodgers, Had been meeting in this area for some time. Religious observances began with brush arbor meetings and early morning services held in the Ganado area. The congregation included both Anglo and African Americans. The first church building was a chapel constructed of hewn logs that also was used as a school-house. Circuit-riding ministers traveled on horseback to serve this community and others in the region. In May 1895 trustees for the church purchased land at East Devers and Second streets, and a white frame sanctuary was erected by the end of the year. An arbor was attached to the back of the church for outdoor services as weather permitted. By 1927 the membership had outgrown the frame church, and in 1928 they built a larger brick sanctuary at Third and Devers streets. A spacious new church building was completed here in 1959. The congregation provides traditional programs for it's members and outreach activities for the area. The church continues to be an integral part of the community as it has for more than a century. (1998)