DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna give it to you straight. On March 31, 1884, a small group of people gathered in the home of Mrs. Mary Dorsey in Pearsall, Frio County, and organized what would become the Pearsall Presbyterian Church.
Now think about that for a second. Not a grand hall, not a courthouse steps ceremony. Somebody's home.
That's how a lot of the good things in Texas got started, quiet and determined, in somebody's front room. The elders chosen that day were Dr. J.
R. Boyd, James Ferries, and James Thompson. The trustees were C.
W. Gribble, R. J.
Harkness, J. S. Powell, E.
B. Rutledge, and James Thompson again, pullin' double duty it seems. The first pastor called to lead the congregation was the Reverend W.
S. Wright. And then they went to work.
Less than two years after that gathering in Mrs. Dorsey's home, they had themselves a proper church structure, dedicated on December 8, 1885. Now here is where the story gets interesting in the way that only time can make a story interesting.
That building is still standing. Still in continuous use. Still the oldest church building doing that job anywhere in Pearsall.
And inside, if you walk through those doors, you will find the original pulpit. The original communion table. The original pews.
The very same wood those founding members sat on. Then in 1970, the congregation took another step, and the church became ecumenical, opening itself wider to the community around it. From Mrs.
Dorsey's parlor in 1884 to a landmark that has never stopped serving. Some things, it turns out, are built to last.
What the marker says
Organized on March 31, 1884, in home of Mrs. Mary Dorsey. Elders: Dr. J. R. Boyd, James Ferries, James Thompson; Trustees: C. W. Gribble, R. J. Harkness, J. S. Powell, E. B. Rutledge, James Thompson. First pastor was the Rev. W. S. Wright. Church structure was dedicated on December 8, 1885. The oldest church building in continuous use in Pearsall, this has its original pulpit, communion table, pews. In 1970 church became ecumenical. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1971