First United Methodist Church of Paris

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna give it to you straight down the line. Way back in 1843, a man named Reverend James Graham organized the First Methodist Church out here in the Lamar County area. Now that's a long time ago, and the congregation he planted didn't stay small or stay still.

It took on a new name somewhere along the way, Centenary Methodist Episcopal Church, South. A name with some weight to it. Meanwhile, across town, another congregation was taking shape entirely on its own terms.

Lamar Avenue Methodist Church had formed, and for a while you had two separate Methodist flocks putting down roots in the same stretch of Texas soil. Could've gone on like that indefinitely, probably. But then came 1916, and the Paris fire.

The marker calls it destructive, and that word isn't thrown around lightly. When something that devastating sweeps through a town, it has a way of clarifying what matters. Those two congregations looked at each other, looked at what remained, and made a decision.

They would come together. One central downtown congregation. The merger became official in 1918, and the Reverend Robert P.

Shuler was appointed the first pastor of the new church, the one we now know as the First United Methodist Church of Paris. Two congregations, one fire, one decision, and a church that traces its roots all the way back to 1843. That's a foundation.

What the marker says

The beginning of this congregation can be traced to 1843, when the Rev. James Graham organized the First Methodist Church in the area. It later took the name Centenary Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Meanwhile, another congregation, Lamar Avenue Methodist Church, was formed. After the destructive Paris fire of 1916, the two churches decided to form one central downtown congregation, and the merger became official in 1918. The Rev. Robert P. Shuler was appointed first pastor of the new congregation, now known as First United Methodist Church of Paris.