DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, most churches have a founding story. Maybe a congregation gathered on a sunny Sunday morning, shook hands, signed some papers.
This one started in black mud, a pouring down rain, and a howling norther. That's not me embellishing. That's the Reverend Jesse Hord's own words.
He was a circuit rider — the kind of preacher who didn't wait for a church to come to him, he rode to the church, even when there wasn't one yet. On January 6, 1839, he came through all of that — the mud, the rain, the norther — to hold services in Matagorda. And when he preached at what he called early candle light, meaning dusk, four persons came forward.
Just four. But those four became the nucleus of what is now the Matagorda Methodist Church, one of the earliest Methodist churches in all of Texas. In time, around 1851, they got themselves a proper building.
Now, you'd think after riding through a howling norther to get this thing started, the congregation had earned a little shelter. And they had it — for a few years. Then came the great hurricane of 1854, and it leveled almost every building in town.
The church went with the rest. They kept going. By 1869 they were holding worship in the county courthouse.
By 1891 the present parsonage was built. And then came the moment that apparently pushed the congregation past its limit — not a hurricane, not a flood, but a cold, rainy Thanksgiving Day in 1892 when they were accidentally locked out of their meeting place, the schoolhouse. Standing out in the wet, in the cold, on a holiday, looking at a locked door — the members decided that was enough.
They must have a proper church. Long leaf yellow pine and cypress were brought in from Galveston. The present church was completed in 1893.
The Ladies' Aid Society wasted no time, and a Sunday school was soon founded. In 1927, Sunday school rooms, a kitchen, and a study were added. In 1942, another hurricane and flood came calling — damaged the church, but did not destroy it.
That distinction matters. After 1854, this congregation knew the difference. And today, with all the improvements and new furnishings that have been added in recent years, three things remain exactly as they were at the start: the original bible, the bell, and the hand-made cypress pews, still in service.
Four people showed up in the mud and the dark for a circuit rider who refused to let a norther stop him. Seems like the least you can do is still be sitting in those pews.
What the marker says
One of the earliest Methodist churches in Texas. Founded January 6, 1839, by the Rev. Jesse Hord, a circuit rider who recorded that he came through "Black mud, a pouring down rain and a howling norther" to hold services in Matagorda. When he preached at "Early candle light" (dusk), four persons came forward to form the nucleus of the present church. The first church building was erected about 1851 but was destroyed by the great hurricane of 1854, which leveled almost every building in town. In 1869 worship was held in the county courthouse; in 1891 the present parsonage was built. In 1892 members decided they must have a proper church after being accidentally locked out of their meeting place -- the schoolhouse -- on a cold, rainy Thanksgiving Day. Long leaf yellow pine and cypress were brought in from Galveston and the present church was completed 1893. A Sunday school was soon founded by the Ladies' Aid Society. In 1927, Sunday School rooms, a kitchen, and study were built. In 1942, another hurricane and flood damaged, but did not destroy, the church. Today, though many improvements and new furnishings have been recently added, the original bible, bell, and hand-made cypress pews are still in service. (1968)