Pisgah United Methodist Church

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Pisgah United Methodist Church in Panola County. Now, some stories start with a building. This one starts with a living room.

Back in 1848, the Pisgah United Methodist Church was organized, and its first pastor, the Reverend N. S. Johnson, wasn't preaching from a grand pulpit.

He was preaching wherever folks could gather, in homes, in parlors, wherever the congregation could fit. Except for summer, that is. Come summer, the whole community made its way two and a half miles south to a place they called Old Camp Ground, where the open air served as the nave and the Texas sky served as the ceiling.

That went on for a good while. Eventually, a proper sanctuary was constructed right there at Old Camp Ground, and it held the congregation for years. Then came 1913.

The church moved to a new site, new facilities, built on land that the family of John Fite donated to the cause. And that is where the church stands to this day. More than a century of Sunday mornings, of community, of gathering the surrounding rural area together under one roof.

The Reverend N. S. Johnson started it all in someone's front room in 1848, and what grew from that is still standing.

What the marker says

This church was organized in 1848 with the Rev. N. S. Johnson as the first pastor. Early services were conducted in homes, except for summer camp meetings held at a site known as Old Camp Ground (2.5 mi. S). A sanctuary was constructed there later and served the church until 1913, when new facilities were built at this site on land donated by the family of John Fite. For well over a century the Pisgah United Methodist Church has played an important role in the development of the surrounding rural area.