Merit Methodist Church

Duane's take

The way the marker tells it, here's what you need to know about the Merit Methodist Church. April of 1871, somebody decided this little corner of Hunt County needed a congregation. So they organized one.

The first pastor was the Reverend W. P. Reed, and the first member, the very first soul on the rolls, was a woman named Margaret Owens.

One name. That's how it started. They didn't have a building, mind you.

They held services at Merit School, making do with what the community had, which is about as Methodist a thing as you can do. Then came 1888. Land was bought, and a frame church was built.

A real one. Something to point to and say, that's ours. Now, you'd think that would be the end of the building troubles.

You would be wrong. 1905, a storm came through and wrecked it. Just wrecked it. But here's where the story turns, because they rebuilt.

They got back up off the ground and they built it again. And that church, the one that rose up after the storm, it still stands. Still serves the descendants of those original members.

From one name on a roll, Margaret Owens, to generations of families carrying that same congregation forward. Some roots go so deep a storm can't kill them. It can only prove it.

What the marker says

Organized in April 1871. First pastor was the Rev. W. P. Reed; first member, Margaret Owens. Services were held at Merit School. In 1888 land was bought and a frame church built. Wrecked by a 1905 storm and then rebuilt, church still serves descendants of original members.