New Tabor Brethren Church

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker at New Tabor Brethren Church has to say, and friend, this one's worth slowing down for. Around 1870, a wave of Czech-Moravian immigrants came rolling into Burleson County. They weren't chasing gold or glory.

They were after two things: fertile land, and the religious freedom that had been denied them back in their European homeland. Simple things, really. The kind of things worth crossing an ocean for.

Now, before they had a proper church, before they had so much as a building to gather in, they made do. Twice a year, the congregation would crowd into the family home of Joseph Macat for informal services. You can picture it, can't you.

Chairs pressed close, voices lifted, the smell of someone's supper still hanging in the air. That went on until 1877, when The Reverend L. J.

Chlumsky, coming all the way from the Wesley community over in Washington County, accepted the call to conduct services at New Tabor Brethren Church. The congregation finally had a shepherd. They worshipped and they waited, and in 1893, they built their first proper sanctuary right here at this location.

That same year, the congregation formally organized as the Evangelical Czech-Moravian Brethren Church. A name as solid as the ground they'd broken. But Burleson County weather has never been much for sentimentality.

In 1915, a tornado found that sanctuary and destroyed it. Gone. And yet, later that same year, the congregation raised a new one.

You don't outrun a storm. You just build again. Then came 1919, and New Tabor hosted something bigger than a Sunday service.

The Texas State Convention of Czech-Moravian Churches convened right here, and at that gathering, independent congregations like New Tabor's were accepted into the Unified Church denomination. A community that had once worshipped quietly in a farmhouse was now part of something stretching across the whole state. The years kept coming, and New Tabor kept building.

A Mutual Aid Society in 1920. A Christian Sisters Society in 1927. A Young People's Circle in 1936.

A Men's Brotherhood in 1962. A nearby church cemetery established in 1971. And in 1953, a third sanctuary was constructed here, the congregation's third act in stone and timber on this same patch of Burleson County ground.

From a farmhouse twice a year to a cornerstone of the community. That's not just a church growing. That's a people taking root.

What the marker says

About 1870 this area of Burleson County was settled by Czech-Moravian immigrants in search of fertile land and the religious freedom denied them in their native European homeland. Informal services were held twice a year in the family home of Joseph Macat until 1877, when The Rev. L. J. Chlumsky, of Washington County's Wesley community, accepted the call to conduct services at New Tabor Brethren Church. The congregation built a sanctuary at this location in 1893, the year of its formal organization as the Evangelical Czech-Moravian Brethren Church. The church building was destroyed by a tornado in 1915 and replaced by a new sanctuary later that year. New Tabor was the site of the Texas State Convention of Czech-Moravian Churches in 1919 during which independent congregations such as New Tabor's were accepted into the Unified Church denomination. The church organized a Mutual Aid Society in 1920, a Christian Sisters Society in 1927, and a Young People's Circle in 1936. The congregation's third sanctuary was constructed here in 1953. In 1962 a Men's Brotherhood was organized and in 1971 a nearby church cemetery was established. New Tabor continues to serve the community by sponsoring various outreach programs.