Lynn Grove United 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 Grimes County, in the community of Lynn Grove, a story started taking shape in 1888. Three men, Zachariah Shelton Weaver, John Lane Shine, and Charles G.

Vickers, looked around at their neighbors, their families, the folks scattered across that stretch of Texas countryside, and felt something missing. A place to gather. A place to worship.

That feeling, simple as it sounds, is how a church gets born. Now, feeling the need is one thing. Finding the land is another.

James H. Muldrow agreed to sell the acreage in 1889, and just like that, Lynn Grove had a future. Before there was a building, though, there was a brush arbor.

Branches woven overhead, open air all around, and traveling circuit riders coming through to hold the first services for the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Picture that. No walls, no pews, just the sky and the word, right there in the community.

Then the building came. A simple wood church, completed in 1893. And here's the part that stays with you: the pews, the lectern, the communion table, the altar rails, all of it was built by the members of the church themselves.

Their own hands shaped the place where they'd bow their heads. Pastor Robert W. Adams, riding in from the Courtney-Plantersville Circuit, gave the first sermon from that handmade lectern.

That building served the community of farmers for over fifty years. More than half a century of Sunday mornings, fellowship, hard seasons, and good ones. Then, in 1947, the congregation made a decision.

They dismantled the old building, every plank and beam of it, and used those very materials to raise something new. A stone and wood church. While that new building went up, the congregation met at the Lynn Grove School, worshipping together the same as always, just under a different roof for a little while.

In 1948, the new building was complete, and the first services were held on Mother's Day. There's something right about that. And those original pieces from the old church, the communion table, the lectern, the ones built by the members' own hands back in 1893, they're still in the sanctuary to this day.

The name changed along the way too. In 1939 it became the Methodist Church, and in 1968 it took the name it carries now: Lynn Grove United Methodist Church. Over the years, the building kept improving, and the congregation kept doing what that original brush arbor gathering set out to do.

Helping each other. Helping those in need. Some things, it turns out, you build once and they hold.

What the marker says

THIS HISTORIC CHURCH DATES BACK TO THE LATE 1880s. IN 1888, ZACHARIAH SHELTON WEAVER, JOHN LANE SHINE AND CHARLES G. VICKERS, RESIDENTS OF THE COMMUNITY OF LYNN GROVE, FELT THE NEED FOR A PLACE OF WORSHIP FOR THEIR FAMILIES AND OTHERS LIVING IN THE AREA. JAMES H. MULDROW AGREED TO SELL ACREAGE FOR A CHURCH IN 1889. THE FIRST CHURCH SERVICES FOR THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH, WERE HELD UNDER A BRUSH ARBOR AND WERE CONDUCTED BY TRAVELING CIRCUIT RIDERS. A SIMPLE WOOD CHURCH BUILDING WAS COMPLETED IN 1893. THE PEWS, LECTERN, COMMUNION TABLE AND ALTAR RAILS WERE CONSTRUCTED BY THE MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH. PASTOR ROBERT W. ADAMS FROM THE COURTNEY-PLANTERSVILLE CIRCUIT GAVE THE FIRST SERMON. THE CHURCH CONTINUED TO PROSPER AS A PLACE OF WORSHIP AND FELLOWSHIP FOR THE COMMUNITY OF FARMERS TO COME TOGETHER. THE ORIGINAL BUILDING WAS USED FOR OVER FIFTY YEARS UNTIL THE DECISION WAS MADE TO BUILD A NEW CHURCH. THE OLD BUILDING WAS DISMANTLED IN 1947 AND THE MATERIALS WERE USED TO BUILD THE NEW STONE AND WOOD CHURCH. DURING CONSTRUCTION, THE CONGREGATION MET AT THE LYNN GROVE SCHOOL. IN 1948, THE BUILDING WAS COMPLETE WITH THE FIRST SERVICES HELD ON MOTHER'S DAY. MANY OF THE ORIGINAL PIECES FROM THE OLD CHURCH ARE STILL USED IN THE SANCTUARY, INCLUDING THE COMMUNION TABLE AND LECTERN. THE NAME OF THE CHURCH CHANGED IN 1939 TO THE METHODIST CHURCH AND IN 1968, IT CHANGED TO LYNN GROVE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH. OVER THE YEARS, THE CHURCH MADE IMPROVEMENTS TO THE BUILDING AND THE CONGREGATION CONTINUED TO HELP EACH OTHER AND THOSE IN NEED.