DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Highland Oaks Church of Christ. Now, some stories start with a bang — a gunfight, a flood, a cattle stampede. This one starts on August 6, 1855, with a handful of families sitting down together in the small community of Dallas.
No thunder. No fanfare. Just the families of John Higgs Cole, Benjamin Franklin Hall, William Henry Hord, William Brown Miller, Jefferson Peak, and Harvey Shepherd, deciding they were going to form a Christian Church congregation.
Six families. One purpose. And friend, that quiet decision has been echoing across Dallas County ever since.
In those early years, the congregation didn't have a building to call its own. They met in private homes, in the county courthouse, wherever they could find a roof and a room. Other families joined along the way, the congregation grew, and by 1867 they were ready to put something permanent in the ground — their first church building, near the intersection of what we now call Ross and Market streets.
Around that same time, a man came riding back into Dallas. Civil War veteran General Richard M. Gano had returned, and he didn't just take a pew — he stepped up to serve the congregation as minister and church elder, and he kept right on doing it for many years.
A general who traded the battlefield for the pulpit. That's a Texas story right there. But 1877 brought some trouble.
The congregation hit a fork in the road — a split, and not a small one. The disagreement was over the use of musical instruments during worship. Doesn't sound like much until you understand that a community built on faith can fracture right down the middle over questions like that.
The group favoring instruments left, and they would eventually form Commerce Street Christian Church. The members who remained took the name First Christian Church, and in 1881 they moved into a new building at Pearl and Bryan streets, earning themselves a new name to go with it — Pearl and Bryan Church of Christ. Now here's where you start to appreciate just how long a congregation can keep walking.
In the mid-1950s, they moved again — out to a site on Garland Road — and became Garland Road Church of Christ. Then in 1983, they moved once more, to Kingsley Road over on Walnut Hill, and took the name they carry today: Highland Oaks Church of Christ. One congregation.
Four names. A food pantry feeding neighbors. Support for missionaries reaching around the globe.
And a founding hand in other congregations that grew up around it. From six families in a borrowed room in 1855, all the way to a church still standing and still serving — that, right there, is how you build something that lasts.
What the marker says
On August 6, 1855, a group came together in the small community of Dallas and formed a Christian Church congregation. The group consisted of the families of John Higgs Cole, Benjamin Franklin Hall, William Henry Hord, William Brown Miller, Jefferson Peak and Harvey Shepherd. The congregation met in private homes, the county courthouse and other facilities, and was soon joined by several other families. In 1867, they built their first church building near the intersection of present Ross and Market streets. Around that same time, Civil War veteran Gen. Richard M. Gano returned to Dallas, and he served the congregation as minister and church elder for many years. In 1877, the congregation suffered a split over the use of musical instruments during worship. The group favoring instruments left and later formed Commerce Street Christian Church. The members remaining became known as First Christian Church and in 1881 moved to a new building at Pearl and Bryan streets, becoming known as Pearl and Bryan Church of Christ. The congregation moved to a site on Garland Road in the mid-1950s and changed its name to Garland Road Church of Christ, and in 1983, it moved to Kingsley Road (Walnut Hill) and became known as Highland Oaks Church of Christ. Throughout its long history, the congregation has maintained ties to its church founders. Programs such as a food pantry and support for missionaries connect members to their community at the local and global levels. The church, a founding congregation for others in the area, remains a spiritual home to its members. (2006)