Grace Methodist Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way out in Anderson County, the story of Grace Methodist Church doesn't start in 1995, or 1898, or even 1884. You've got to go all the way back — back to the late 1830s, when Methodist missionaries were already working this land.

Circuit-riding ministers, those tireless men on horseback, were serving Methodists in Palestine from the very moment it was founded as the Anderson County seat in 1848. Now that is getting in on the ground floor. By 1850, the congregation had built themselves a proper frame sanctuary, and before the year was even out — November of 1850 — they hosted the East Texas Conference right there in that new building.

They called it Bascom Chapel, named in honor of an early Methodist bishop. Not bad for a young congregation in a young county seat. Then came 1872, and with it the railroad.

Palestine boomed the way Texas towns do when the iron rails show up — fast and loud. That growth carried the congregation forward, and in 1884 they raised a new church. They named it Centenary, marking the one hundredth anniversary of Methodism in the United States.

A hundred years of a faith, and Palestine was right there celebrating it. But here's where the story splits — literally. Just three years after Centenary was built, the congregation divided.

Out of that division came two churches that are still standing today: First United Methodist Church and Grace United Methodist Church. Grace's side of that split started out under the name Methvin Chapel, given in honor of the Reverend Alex Methvin. In 1898 that congregation built Howard Avenue Methodist Church.

And for a while, things were good. Then 1913 came around, and the building burned. Just like that, gone.

But a congregation that had been gathering since the days of circuit riders wasn't about to scatter. They built again, right here at this site, and this time they called it Grace Methodist Church. Through missionary work, worship, education, and outreach — local and foreign alike — Grace United Methodist Church has kept right on going.

More than a century and a half of Methodism in one corner of Anderson County, and that story's still being written.

What the marker says

Methodist missionary efforts in this area date to the late 1830s. Circuit-riding ministers served Methodists in Palestine from the time of its founding as the Anderson County seat in 1848. In 1850 church members built a frame sanctuary and in November of that year the East Texas Conference was held in the new building, named Bascom Chapel in honor of an early Methodist bishop. The arrival of the railroad in 1872 resulted in a population boom for Palestine, and in 1884 a new church, named Centenary for the 100th anniversary of Methodism in the United States, was built. Three years later, the congregation divided to form the present First United Methodist Church and Grace United Methodist Church. Initially called Methvin Chapel in honor of the Rev. Alex Methvin, this congregation built Howard Avenue Methodist Church in 1898. After it burned in 1913, a new sanctuary was constructed at this site and named Grace Methodist Church. Long a supporter of local and foreign missionary efforts, Grace United Methodist Church continues to serve the community with a variety of worship, educational, and outreach programs. (1995)