Homer Methodist Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll give it to you straight. Way out in Jasper County, there's a congregation with roots that go all the way back to 1860. That's the Homer Methodist Church, and its story starts about as humbly as a story can start.

No walls, no steeple, no pews. Just a tent. That's where the first worship services were held, with the Rev.

E. P. Rogers riding the circuit as the very first minister to serve this flock.

A tent. In East Texas. You've got to admire the conviction it takes to call that a church and mean it.

Now, a congregation like that doesn't stay in a tent forever if it's got good people behind it. And the Homer community had good people. In 1893, Virginia and James W.

Yeates deeded property to the Homer church, giving the congregation something solid to build on. Literally. Work got underway, and the members of the Homer community built the sanctuary themselves.

By Christmas of 1896, it was done. Standing on this very site. And because this community understood that a building is only as useful as the work it does, that sanctuary also served for many years as a schoolhouse.

Church and school, all under one roof that those same neighbors raised with their own hands. Along the way, the Homer Methodist Church saw numerous circuit ministers come through. One name the marker calls out is the Rev.

John A. Henderson, born in 1858, died in 1946, who served the Homer Methodist Church for many years of his ministry. That's a life spent in service, and a congregation that kept the faith through circuits and seasons and a whole lot of Texas weather.

Started in a tent. Built by its own people. Still standing.

That's the Homer Methodist Church.

What the marker says

This congregation began in 1860, with the Rev. E. P. Rogers serving as its first circuit minister. Worship services were first held in a tent. In 1893, Virginia and James W. Yeates deeded property to the Homer church, and a sanctuary was completed on this site by Christmas 1896. Constructed by members of the Homer community, the building also served many years as a schoolhouse. The congregation has had numerous circuit ministers, including the Rev. John A. Henderson (1858-1946), who served the Homer Methodist Church for many years of his ministry.