DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about the First United Methodist Church of Lufkin. Now settle in, because this story starts with one woman and a Bible, and ends with six buildings and a century of faith. Margaret Abney — born Margaret Fullerton, down in Alabama in 1829 — came to East Texas and did what a lot of East Texans had to do back then: she made do with what was close.
In 1863, she and her family joined the Methodist Church at a camp meeting out at McKendree Campground, just nearby. The spirit moved them, no question. But the nearest Methodist church?
Ten miles away. Ten miles was a real distance in those days, and Margaret Abney wasn't the type to let distance win. So she opened her home on Sunday afternoons and held Bible study meetings right there, family and friends gathered around, week after week.
Now here's the thing about a quiet flame — it has a way of catching. That little circle of Abney family and friends became the very nucleus of something official. In 1882, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South organized a congregation right there in Lufkin.
One of eight churches on the Homer circuit, they'd meet once a month in a local school building to hear the Reverend H. H. Vaughan preach.
Once a month. You worked with what you had. But the congregation kept growing, and in 1884 a frame church building went up in downtown Lufkin — two hundred seats, erected on land donated by the railroad.
They shared that building with local Presbyterians and Baptists, which tells you something about the spirit of the place. By 1891, membership had climbed to a hundred souls, and the pastor was holding services twice a month. Ten years after that, the rolls showed two hundred and eighty-six members, and the pastor had gone full-time.
The congregation didn't slow down. In 1905 they completed a new sanctuary — more than eight hundred seats, built at a cost of fourteen thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars. That is not a small sum, and that is not a small room.
Growth kept right on coming, and by 1928 they needed an educational building to go along with it. Then came the Depression. Then came the Second World War.
Difficult times, both of them — the marker says so plainly, and plainly is the right word for what those years asked of people. But the congregation kept growing through all of it. In 1959, the church relocated to Denman Avenue.
And in 1978, when the congregation gathered to celebrate one hundred years since Mrs. Abney first opened her home for those Sunday afternoon meetings, the church complex stood six buildings strong. Six buildings, rising up from one woman's parlor and a Bible open on a Sunday afternoon.
That's the story the marker tells — and it's a good one.
What the marker says
Margaret (Fullerton) Abney, born in Alabama in 1829, joined the Methodist Church with her family at a camp meeting held at nearby McKendree Campground in 1863. Because the nearest Methodist church was ten miles away, Mrs. Abney held Bible study meetings in her home on Sunday afternoons. This group of Abney family and friends formed the nucleus of the membership of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, when it organized a Lufkin congregation in 1882. One of eight churches in the Homer circuit, the congregation met once a month in a local school building to hear the sermons of the Reverend H. H. Vaughan. In 1884 a 200-seat frame church building was erected in downtown Lufkin on land donated by the railroad. The building was shared with local Presbyterians and Baptists. By 1891, membership had grown to 100 and the pastor held services twice a month. Ten years later, the membership numbered 286 and the pastor was serving full-time. Completed in 1905 at a cost of $14,750, a new sanctuary seated more than 800 people. The church propsered, requiring an educational building by 1928. Despite the difficult times of the Depression era and World War II, the congregation continued to grow, and the church was relocated to Denman Avenue in 1959. By 1978, when the congregation celebrated the 100 years since Mrs. Abney began her Sunday School, the church complex included six buildings. The First United Methodist Church of Lufkin continues an active tradition of community and missionary service. (1998)