First United Methodist Church of Junction

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way out in Kimble County, in the town of Junction, there's a church with roots that go all the way down to bare dirt and cut branches. Back before there were walls or windows or pews, the early residents of Junction were gathering under brush arbors, open-air shelters of stacked limbs and woven greenery, just to hold a religious meeting together.

That's where it all started. By the 1870s, Junction had itself an active Methodist Society, and they were drawing traveling ministers from the circuit. And not just any ministers.

One of the names that shows up is Andrew Jackson Potter, known, apparently, as the fiery Fighting Parson. That's a title you don't earn by being mild. Now, in 1881, the Junction Methodists were brought in as a mission church of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

They had an identity, a home in a larger body. And they kept building on it. By 1889, the congregation had raised a sanctuary and a parsonage: real walls, a real roof, a place to stay.

The congregation kept growing, and here's where the story picks up something extra. Among the people who grew up in that congregation was a man named Coke R. Stevenson, who would go on to become Governor of Texas.

And when the time came to build again, he didn't just show up for the ribbon cutting. He served on the building committee for the church's 1930 Spanish mission-style sanctuary. The governor, working the committee.

That sanctuary still stands. The First United Methodist Church of Junction has been, all this time, a center for worship, education, and community activity. From brush arbors to Spanish mission arches, Junction's been building something that lasts.

What the marker says

Early Junction residents built brush arbors for religious meetings, and by the 1870s, the city had an active Methodist Society, which hosted traveling ministers, such as the fiery "Fighting Parson" Andrew Jackson Potter. The Junction Methodists became a mission church of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South in 1881. Members built a sanctuary and parsonage in 1889, and the congregation continued to grow. Gov. Coke R. Stevenson, who grew up in the congregation, served on the building committee for the church's 1930 Spanish mission-style sanctuary. Today, the church continues to be a center for worship, education and community activity. (2006)