First United Methodist Church of Lampasas

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the First United Methodist Church of Lampasas. Now settle in, because this is a congregation with deep roots and a long road behind it. We're talkin' about a story that begins right after the Civil War, winds through college halls, and keeps on going well into living memory.

The marker puts the first Methodist services in Lampasas as early as 1866. That's Reconstruction Era Texas, when getting a community of faith together took real doing. The first known pastor to serve the Methodist circuit in this area was the Reverend William F.

Cummins. The exact details of how the church formally organized are, the marker tells us honestly, unclear. But what is known is this: by 1880, during the pastorate of the Reverend E.

F. Kahle, the congregation had built a sanctuary on Fourth Street. A proper church home, right there on Fourth Street in Lampasas.

Now, four years after that sanctuary went up, the congregation did something remarkable. They sponsored the opening of Centenary College. The Christian Boarding and Preparatory School, located right there in Lampasas, operated for about ten years.

A congregation that builds a school, that tells you something about the kind of community they intended to be. Come 1900, under the leadership of the Reverend J. S.

Braswell, the fellowship moved again, this time to a new church home on Key Avenue. And in 1966, they relocated once more, out to Highway 190 East and Alexander Drive, about a mile north. Each move, a growing church findin' its next chapter.

But the story of this congregation isn't just about buildings and addresses. The marker notes that mergers with the Black Methodist congregation known as Alice Chapel, and with a rural Methodist church at Ogles, strengthened the membership. Those weren't small things.

Those were communities comin' together, histories joinin'. Descendants of some of the earliest known members still worship with the congregation today. The same families, the same faith, carried forward across generations.

The marker calls it a long and distinguished role in the leadership of this community, and it's hard to argue. From 1866 to the present, through sanctuaries and colleges and mergers and moves, the First United Methodist Church of Lampasas has been part of the fabric of this place. Some stories don't end so much as they keep goin'.

This is one of them.

What the marker says

Methodists in Lampasas were holding church services as early as 1866. The Rev. William F. Cummins is the first known pastor to have served the Methodist circuit in this area. Although the exact details of the organization of the First United Methodist Church of Lampasas are unclear, it is known that a sanctuary was built on Fourth Street in 1880, during the pastorate of The Rev. E. F. Kahle. Four years later, the congregation sponsored the opening of Centenary College. The Christian Boarding and Preparatory School was located in Lampasas and was in operation for about ten years. In 1900, under the leadership of The Rev. J. S. Braswell, the fellowship moved to a new church home on Key Avenue. The congregation relocated to Highway 190 East and Alexander Drive (1 mi. N) in 1966. Mergers with the Black Methodist congregation known as Alice Chapel and a rural Methodist church at Ogles have strengthened the membership. With ties to the Reconstruction Era in Texas history, the First United Methodist Church of Lampasas has played a long and distinguished role in the leadership of this community. Descendants of some of the earliest known members still worship with the congregation.