DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Saint Luke African Methodist Episcopal Church in McLennan County. Now settle in, because this story starts small — real small — and grows into something worth remembering. According to oral tradition, it all began in 1886.
Not with a grand cathedral, not with stained glass catching the Sunday light. Just an evening sunday school, meeting on Elm Street. That's where the seed was planted.
The Rev. Charlie Gipson was the first pastor to tend it, and however modest those early gatherings may have been, something was taking root. Two decades later, in 1906, during the pastorate of the Rev.
L.M. Holmes, the congregation raised up an actual church building. Brick and mortar now, not just a borrowed evening and a borrowed room.
And they kept moving — by around 1920, the congregation had settled at the current site, the place they've called home ever since. But here's the detail that'll make you sit up a little straighter: one of those early pastors, E.J. Howard, rose through the ranks of the African Methodist Episcopal Church until 1936, when he was elected Bishop.
Not just a shepherd of one flock on one street corner in Waco — a Bishop. Over all those years, Saint Luke A.M.E. Church built something the marker is careful to name plainly: a significant source of service and leadership to Waco's Black community.
Started as an evening sunday school on Elm Street. Ended up something much, much larger than that.
What the marker says
According to oral tradition, this congregation began in 1886 as an evening sunday school which met on Elm Street. The Rev. Charlie Gipson served as first pastor. A church building was constructed in 1906, during the pastorate of the Rev. L.M. Holmes, and the congregation has worshiped at the current site since about 1920. Early Pastor E.J. Howard was elected Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1936. Over the years, St. Luke A.M.E. church has provided a significant source of service and leadership to Waco's black community.