DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, some congregations announce themselves with a cornerstone-laying ceremony and a brass band. This one started quieter than that — meeting in members' homes, somewhere at the close of the nineteenth century, out in what would become Dallas.
No building, no address, just folks gathering and holding to something they believed in. By 1907, though, they were ready to put down roots. Three trustees — Chester Williams, G.
M. Purcell, and Claude Hocker — went out and purchased property near what would become Fair Park. They found an existing white frame building on that land, and here's the thing about that white frame building: it lasted.
Forty-seven years, that structure served them. The street names around it changed over time, and the congregation changed its own name right along with those streets, keeping itself oriented to the neighborhood it called home. Along the way, these folks weren't just tending to their own house.
In 1949, members helped form the Ewing Avenue Church of Christ over in Oak Cliff. That's a congregation that might not exist at all if not for this one. By 1954, it was time to move again.
The congregation packed up and headed to a new site on Bruton Road — and this time, they didn't just occupy a building. They built one. Members contributed their money, their time, and their talents to raise up a red brick sanctuary with their own hands.
That building served them for many years. But Texas has a way of shifting its population around, and by the 1970s, many of the members had drifted out to the northeast Dallas suburbs. So in 1976, the elders purchased more than four acres of land on La Prada Drive.
Now, you might think the hard part was over. You'd be wrong. The Bruton Road facility sold so fast it caught them short, and for a stretch, this congregation — which had been meeting since the nineteenth century — was holding services in a Mesquite school.
Not a church. A school. They made do, the way they always had.
Then, in December of 1979, a new church building was completed on La Prada Drive, and they finally had a home that matched their name. Through every move, every renamed street, every borrowed room, the congregation held to the same traditions its founders practiced. Elders and deacons guide the church.
Male members do all the speaking and teaching. There is no Sunday School. And when they sing — and they do sing — they sing without instruments.
Always have. They also reach outward: active in foreign and domestic missionary service and community outreach, carrying on work that stretches well past their own four acres. A congregation that began in somebody's living room at the end of the 1800s.
Still standing. Still singing. That's not a small thing.
What the marker says
This congregation first met in members' homes at the end of the 19th century. In 1907 three trustees of the church -- Chester Williams, G. M. Purcell, and Claude Hocker -- purchased property near what would become Fair Park. An existing white frame building was used for 47 years, with the name of the church changing in accordance with street name changes. Members helped form the Ewing Avenue Church of Christ in Oak Cliff in 1949. Moving to a new site on Bruton Road in 1954, the congregation contributed their money, time, and talents to construct a red brick sanctuary, which served for many years. By the 1970s many members had moved to the northeast Dallas suburbs. In 1976 elders purchased more than four acres of land on La Prada Drive. Due to the rapid sale of the Bruton Road facility, services were held in a Mesquite school until a new church building was completed in December 1979. In keeping with the traditions of its founders, the church is guided by elders and deacons; male members do all speaking and teaching. There is no Sunday School. Singing without instruments is practiced. The congregation is active in foreign and domestic missionary service and community outreach. (1998)