DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll give it to you straight from that record. Now, some churches just hold services. And then there are churches that help build a whole community from the ground up.
Pull up a chair, because Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ is that second kind. The story starts in 1904, in Houston's Freedmen's Town community. Two men — the Reverend G.
B. M. Turner and educator E.
O. Smith — set about organizing what would become Houston's first African American Congregational church. And in those earliest days, they didn't have a grand sanctuary.
They had Turner's home. That's where the first services were held. A congregation meeting in a living room, with the whole future still unwritten.
They didn't stay small for long. By 1907, a permanent structure had gone up on Matthews at Victor. Then 1914 brought another building, this one on Wilson at Cleveland.
The church was growin', puttin' down roots, makin' itself a fixture in the life of Houston. Then 1936 arrived, and with it, fire. The church burned.
For several years, the congregation met in temporary quarters — no small trial for a community of faith. But here's the thing about this congregation: they didn't scatter. By that time, most members were living in the Third Ward, so that's where the church went.
In 1942, they built a new home on Live Oak at Berry Street. You follow a congregation like that, you're followin' people who know how to endure. The name changed in 1957 — to Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ — when the Congregational Christian churches and the Evangelical and Reformed church merged at the denominational level.
A new name for a new chapter. And the chapters kept coming. In 1965, the growing church purchased property at 3115 Blodgett Street.
The first services at that site were held on March 23, 1974. A date worth remembering. Now, I'd be doing this story a disservice if I didn't stop and linger on what these people built beyond the sanctuary walls.
Several early members left their mark in education, labor, and civil rights. They helped establish the Colored Carnegie Library in 1909. They organized the local chapter of the NAACP in 1918.
Houston Independent School District schools were named for E. O. Smith, for G.
B. M. Turner, and for T.
R. Chatham. And the HISD administration building itself is named for Hattie Mae White — the first African American HISD board member.
That is a congregation whose fingerprints are all over a city. John D. Moore served as pastor from 1936 until 1973.
That's a long tenure, spanning some of the most consequential decades in American life. And there's one more thing the marker wants you to know. To this day, Pilgrim Church continues to honor the courageous African captives of the 1839 Amistad event, and the Congregationalist defenders who stood with them.
That history — that long, principled history — is something this congregation has chosen to carry forward, not set aside. From a home in Freedmen's Town to a community anchor at 3115 Blodgett Street, with fires and mergers and moves and a century of outreach in between — Pilgrim Church didn't just survive Houston. It helped shape it.
What the marker says
The Reverend G. B. M. Turner and educator E. O. Smith organized Pilgrim Congregational Church, Houston's first African American Congregational church, in the Freedmen's Town community in 1904. Early services were held in Turner's home. Permanent structures were built on Matthews at Victor in 1907 and on Wilson at Cleveland in 1914. After a 1936 fire, the church met in temporary quarters for several years. Since most members then resided in the Third Ward, the congregation built a new church on Live Oak at Berry Street in 1942. The church's name was changed to Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ in 1957 as a result of the denominational merger of the Congregational Christian churches and the Evangelical and Reformed church. The growing church purchased property at 3115 Blodgett Street in 1965; the first services were held at this site on March 23, 1974. Several early members left their impact in the fields of education, labor and civil rights by establishing organizations such as the Colored Carnegie Library (1909) and the local chapter of the NAACP (1918). Houston Independent School District (HISD) schools were named for E. O. Smith, G. B. M. Turner and T. R. Chatham; the HISD administration building is named for Hattie Mae White, the first African American HISD board member. John D. Moore served as pastor from 1936 until 1973. Pilgrim Church has impacted the community through outreach programs such as scouting, food for the hungry, a thrift shop and a community center. Today, the church continues to honor the courageous African captives of the 1839 "Amistad event" and their Congregationalist defenders. (2009)