Methodism in Joshua

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm just along for the ride. Before Joshua was even a dot on the map, before the railroad came through and put the town on the books in 1881, there were Methodists out in this corner of Johnson County already doing what Methodists do: gathering, worshiping, holding the community together. They were meeting out at Caddo Grove and Marystown, two communities that knew something about faith and fellowship long before a train whistle ever echoed across this land.

Then the railroad came, Joshua became a town, and just two years later, in 1883, a Methodist church was organized right there in Joshua itself. And it didn't come out of nowhere; the Marystown church reached out a hand and helped constitute it. That's the kind of thing that doesn't make headlines but keeps a county stitched together.

The congregation came in as part of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and over the years it grew into what folks know today as the First United Methodist Church of Joshua. Community affairs, missionary efforts (this church has had a hand in it all). But maybe the most quietly remarkable thing about it is what it represents in the longer chain of history.

Because of those ties running back through Marystown and Caddo Grove, the Joshua church isn't just a congregation; it's a living link between where Johnson County came from and where it stands today. Some threads just keep holding.

What the marker says

Prior to the establishment of Joshua as a railroad town in 1881, Methodists in the area worshiped at the Caddo Grove and Marystown communities. A Methodist church was organized in Joshua in 1883 with assistance from the Marystown church. Constituted as part of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, the congregation is now known as the First United Methodist Church of Joshua. The fellowship has actively supported community affairs and missionary efforts. Its ties to earlier area Methodist congregations have made the Joshua church an important link in Johnson County history.