DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the First United Methodist Church of Waller. Now settle in, because this congregation has a story with more twists than a Hill Country back road — and more than one of those twists came straight down from the sky. The trail starts in 1888, the year the Waller Methodist Episcopal Church, South, first showed up in regional Methodist conference records.
Among those earliest members were Mr. and Mrs. W. W.
Brown, Lawton M. and Sallie Bouknight, and Simeon P. and Sarah J. White — along with the White daughters, Grace and Carrie. Right there at the beginning you've got folks who meant business.
Church trustees John Whitaker and Cary Mason went ahead and purchased land in anticipation of building a proper Methodist church house. Sounds like momentum, doesn't it? Except — and here's your first twist — no building was ever erected on that site.
Not one. The congregation kept on meeting in the Waller School over at Pine and Cherry streets, and Grace and Carrie White led a Methodist Sunday School inside the Baptist church facility. That, friends, is a congregation too determined to let a little thing like not having their own walls slow them down.
They eventually did get their first building, finished in 1906 at the corner of Farr and Bois d'Arc streets. Now you'd think that was the end of the hard times. You would be wrong.
Two years after it was completed, a tornado destroyed it. Gone. They rebuilt at the same location in 1909, and in 1911 Ella King and three other church women organized a women's society, which tells you something about the character of this congregation — you knock it down, they come back stronger and more organized.
But the sky wasn't finished with them. In 1917, another tornado devastated the church building. Two tornadoes.
Same congregation. By 1920 they had erected a new building, this time at the corner of Smith and Cherry streets, and they weren't about to let geography stop the ministry either. From 1920 all the way to 1940, the Methodists and the Waller Baptists took turns sharing the load — each congregation served twice a month by circuit riding ministers, alternating services between the two churches.
Then in 1940, both churches stepped up and began holding services every Sunday. The 1920 building was sold and moved in 1961 — the whole thing, picked up and carried off — and a modern facility was erected that same year. By 1975, the debt on it was paid in full.
Clean slate. Today, the First United Methodist Church of Waller carries forward in the traditions of those founders, running programs of worship and service including the Ministerial Alliance, an ecumenical group dedicated to aiding community members in need. Two tornadoes, a borrowed schoolroom, a shared Baptist building, and circuit riders twice a month — and this church is still standing.
You can't say they didn't earn it.
What the marker says
The Waller Methodist Episcopal Church, South, traces its history to 1888, the year it was first mentioned in regional Methodist conference records. Early members included Mr. and Mrs. W. W. Brown, Lawton M. and Sallie Bouknight and Simeon P. and Sarah J. White with their daughters, Grace and Carrie. Church trustees John Whitaker and Cary Mason purchased land in anticipation of the construction of a Methodist church building, but none was ever erected on that site. The congregation met in Waller School at Pine and Cherry streets and a Methodist Sunday School was led by Grace and Carrie White in the Baptist church facility. The Methodist church's first building was completed in 1906 at the corner of Farr and Bois d'Arc streets, but it was destroyed by a tornado two years later. It was rebuilt at the same location in 1909. Ella King and three other church women organized a women's society in 1911. The church building was devastated by another tornado in 1917, and a new building was erected at the corner of Smith and Cherry streets in 1920. From 1920 to 1940 the Methodists alternated church services with Waller Baptists. Each congregation was served twice a month by circuit riding ministers. In 1940 each church began to hold services every Sunday. The 1920 church building was sold and moved in 1961. A modern facility was erected that year, and its debt was paid by 1975. First United Methodist Church of Waller continues in the traditions of its founders with programs of worship and service such as the Ministerial Alliance, an ecumenical group dedicated to aiding community members in need. (2000)