Lingleville Tabernacle

Duane's take

Here's how the marker tells it, and here's how I'm telling it to you. Somewhere in Erath County, out in Lingleville, there stands a tabernacle with a story older than most of the trees around it. The marker says it was built in 1913, and right there is where the story gets good.

See, before that year, folks out in Lingleville were doing things the old way. Every summer, when revival season rolled around, somebody had to go out and build a brush-covered arbor. Cut the branches, lash things together, hope it held through the preaching and the heat and whatever weather Texas felt like throwing at the faithful that particular week.

And then, when it was all over, you either tore it down or watched it fall apart on its own. Next summer, you did it again. That was the deal.

But in 1913, the local Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian congregations decided they had patched and rebuilt their last arbor. Three different denominations, coming together, which is itself a thing worth noting. They put up a permanent structure, a real tabernacle, something that would still be standing when their grandchildren came around.

They even made the benches by hand. Now that tells you something about the people involved. You don't hand-make benches for a building you don't believe in.

From that point on, the tabernacle served as more than a revival ground. It became a community meeting place, a gathering spot that belonged to everybody. And here's the part that really lands the story.

All these years later, the Lingleville Homecoming still meets there every year, in the same building, on those same grounds. What those three congregations raised up in 1913, the community never let go of.

What the marker says

Built in 1913, this tabernacle served as a permanent structure for summer religious revivals, and eliminated the need to rebuild or repair the brush-covered arbors that had been used in earlier years. Local Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian church congregations helped erect the structure, which included the hand-made benches. Like many tabernacles, it also served as a community meeting place. It is still used for the annual Lingleville Homecoming. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1983 Incising on base: Sponsored by Lingleville Homecoming Committee 1982 & 1983.