First United Methodist Church of Silsbee

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the First United Methodist Church of Silsbee, over in Hardin County. Now settle in, because this one goes back a good long ways, and it's got more chapters than most churches ever see. The year was 1901, and Silsbee was a company town, bound up in the lumbering and railroad operations of one John Henry Kirby.

Methodist worship was just getting started there, part of a mission effort reaching into that timber country. And where did those early Sunday School classes meet? In an old passenger coach, parked on a railroad siding.

Not a chapel, not a hall. A train car sitting still while the Word moved. Circuit riders from the Beaumont district of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, were making their rounds, keeping the faithful connected to something larger than the sawdust and the rail lines.

By 1904, a ministerial student named Mattison Lonzo Storey, out of Southwestern University in Georgetown, oversaw the formation of the church proper, with thirteen charter members. Thirteen. Not a crowd, but enough.

The very next year, the Reverend Simeon David Horger came on as the congregation's first ordained minister, and things started taking shape in a more permanent way. Now, Silsbee women, and I want you to hear that clearly, the women of Silsbee raised the funds to build a Masonic hall that included space for religious and social functions on the ground floor. The Methodist congregation gathered there while they worked toward something of their own.

That day came in 1907, when the congregation built new facilities on land donated by the Santa Fe Townsite Company. They didn't stop there. Members built a parsonage and enlarged the church building, adding room for a Sunday School program that just kept growing.

And when the congregation outgrew what they had again, John H. Kirby donated the former Odd Fellows Hall, which was moved right onto the church property. A new sanctuary rose in 1929.

Then came the fires. One in the 1940s. Another in the 1980s.

And each time, that congregation did what this part of Texas has always had to do. It rebuilt. It expanded.

It kept going. More than a century of worship and congregation later, the First United Methodist Church of Silsbee is still standing, still serving, still growing alongside the town it helped shape. Education programs, scouting, outreach, counseling.

The passenger coach is long gone, but the mission that started in it never did leave.

What the marker says

Methodist worship services began in Silsbee as part of a mission effort in 1901, when the community was a company town, a part of the lumbering and railroad operations of John Henry Kirby. Early Sunday School classes were held in an old passenger coach parked on a railroad siding, and the community was served in part by circuit riders from the Beaumont district of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.In 1904, Mattison Lonzo Storey, a ministerial student from Southwestern University of Georgetown, oversaw the formation of the church with 13 charter members. The next year, the Rev. Simeon David Horger became the congregation's first ordained minister. Silsbee women raised funds for construction of a Masonic hall, with space for religious and social functions on the ground floor. The Methodist congregation met there until 1907, when it built new facilities on land donated by the Santa Fe Townsite Company. Members soon built a parsonage and enlarged the church building, adding space for its growing Sunday School program. As the congregation continued to grow, John H. Kirby donated the former Odd Fellows Hall to be moved to the church property. A new sanctuary was built in 1929. Despite fires in the 1940S and 1980s, the congregation remained strong, rebuilding and expanding several times.After more than a century of worship and congregation, First United Methodist Church reflects the growth of Silsbee and continues to support its members and larger community through education programs, scouting, outreach, counseling and other services. (2004)