DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker tells this story, and here's how I tell it — welcome to Duane's version. Now, before Texas was even a republic, before religious freedom was anything more than a wish on the frontier, somebody stood up in Nacogdoches and preached a Methodist sermon. Tradition says that happened before 1821.
We don't have a name. We don't have a date pinned to the calendar. Just the echo of a voice in a rough-hewn town, and the knowledge that it happened.
But echoes don't build churches. People do. Once the Republic of Texas established religious freedom, the door swung open — and missionary Littleton Fowler walked right through it.
On October 16, 1837, Fowler preached in Nacogdoches, and not long after that, he founded what would become this church. Now keep in mind what that meant at the time: this was the first Protestant congregation organized in Nacogdoches after the Texas War for Independence. The whole town was still finding its footing, and here comes a church, starting with exactly eighteen members calling themselves a Methodist Society.
Eighteen people. You probably know eighteen people. Imagine building something that lasts nearly two centuries with that room.
Fowler lit the fire. Then came the first pastor to tend it — the Reverend Samuel A. Williams, who volunteered for service in Texas and came all the way from Tennessee in 1838 to take on that role.
Volunteered. Worth sitting with that word for a second. Nobody drafted him.
Tennessee was perfectly fine. He came anyway. The congregation grew.
By 1850 the Methodists were known as the most active Protestants in Nacogdoches — the whole town knew it. By 1860, twelve or more successive pastors had led this flock. Twelve.
In roughly twenty-three years. That's a congregation that kept going through change, through transition, through whatever the frontier threw at it. For a long while they met in homes and other places — wherever they could gather.
But in 1860, the same year that twelfth-or-so pastor was coming through, this congregation built a proper church. Not on this site — across the street from it. Then in 1887 they built a larger frame church, right here on this ground.
Bigger, sturdier, a real statement. And then 1907 came, and fire took it. Just like that.
A building that stood for twenty years, gone. But here's the thing about a congregation that started with eighteen volunteers in a town where religious freedom was brand new — they didn't stop. By 1910 a brick building was erected on this site.
Brick. As if to say: try that again. The story didn't stop there either.
In 1925, this congregation participated in the founding of Perritte Memorial Methodist Church on the west side of the city — helping a new community of faith take root. Then in 1929, they helped establish a Bible chair at Stephen F. Austin State Teachers' College, the institution that would later become a state university.
A church reaching into a college campus, planting something for the next generation to find. And the present church building — the one standing at this site — was completed in 1969. From a nameless sermon before 1821 to a building completed in 1969.
From eighteen members to a congregation that founded other congregations. That, friends, is not a short story. That's a long, stubborn, fire-surviving, river-crossing, frontier-outlasting kind of faith.
And Nacogdoches has been living next to it the whole time.
What the marker says
At least one Methodist sermon was preached in Nacogdoches before 1821, according to tradition. After religious freedom was established by the Republic of Texas, missionary Littleton Fowler (1803-1846) preached here on Oct. 16, 1837, and soon founded this church. This was the first Protestant congregation organized in Nacogdoches after the Texas War for Independence. It began as an 18-member "Methodist Society." Volunteering for service in Texas, the Rev. Samuel A. Williams came here from Tennessee in 1838 as the first pastor. By 1850, the Methodists were known as the most active Protestants in the town; by 1860 there had been 12 or more successive pastors. After meeting in homes and other places, this congregation built a church across the street from this site in 1860. a larger frame church, built in 1887 on this site, was lost in a fire in 1907. A brick building was erected in 1910. In 1925 this congregation participated in the founding of Perritte Memorial Methodist Church, on the west side of the city. In 1929 it helped establish a bible chair at Stephen F. Austin State Teachers' College (later a state university). The present church building was completed in 1969.