Sugar Land First United Methodist Church

Duane's take

The official marker tells this story, and here's how I pass it on to you. Now settle in, because this one starts small, the way most big things do. Way back in 1910, a man named Rev.

C.C. Miller showed up in Sugar Land and organized what you might generously call a church. Informal, they'd say.

No full-time minister, no set schedule. Just folks gathering when they could for evangelical worship services, Bible study, hymn singing. Intermittent, the marker calls it.

Which is a polite word for, we'll see who shows up. But something was there, something worth tending. Then the years moved along, and in 1918 the Imperial Sugar Company did something worth noting.

They donated a parcel of land called Church Park, sitting right there between Main and Wood Streets, and they offered it up to four congregations at once: the Methodists, the Presbyterians, the Baptists, and the Catholics. Four different flavors of faith, one piece of ground. That is a Sugar Land kind of story.

August 1919, a missionary minister named Rev. C.E. Clark arrived to officially organize the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

The trustees that year were C.J. Berney, Mrs. C.A.

Dierks, Charles Vallenga, Mrs. W.M. Brooks, E.S.

Repp, and C.N. Franks. And the first appointed minister to serve this newly organized congregation was Rev.

T.W. St. John.

Now the first building they put up was a one-story frame structure. Simple on the outside, but inside those walls they had stained glass windows. One in particular, a window called Jesus Praying in the Garden.

That window has a story all its own, because it didn't stay in just one building. It moved with the congregation. It was installed in the sanctuaries that came after, and today it resides in the prayer chapel of the present campus.

Some things, you just don't leave behind. Early on, the ministries ran deep. A church choir.

Easter cantatas. The Women's Methodist Missionary Society, which later became United Methodist Women. Youth groups.

And benevolent causes that reached local, national, and international. This congregation was not content to look only at its own backyard. Membership kept growin', and by 1955 the congregation purchased three acres on Eldridge Road and built a modern church and hall.

In the 1960s, they bought additional acreage. Then in 1977, a new brick sanctuary was completed. But even that wasn't the final chapter.

The present sanctuary, brick, 936 seats, was completed in 1999. Along the way, the campus grew to include the School for Little Children, a Youth Center housed in the former Laura Eldridge Memorial Hospital, an Education Center, and the Perry Abernathy Recreation Center. From a man named Miller organizing informal gatherings in 1910, to a 936-seat sanctuary serving neighbors and the world into the 21st century.

That window, Jesus Praying in the Garden, has watched the whole journey. Still there. Still lit up.

That's a congregation that kept its word.

What the marker says

METHODIST SERVICES IN SUGAR LAND DATE BACK TO AS EARLY AS 1910, WHEN REV. C.C. MILLER ORGANIZED AN INFORMAL CHURCH. THERE WAS NO FULL-TIME MINISTER, AND ACTIVITIES SUCH AS EVANGELICAL WORSHIP SERVICES, BIBLE STUDY AND HYMN SINGING WERE INTERMITTENT. IN 1918, THE IMPERIAL SUGAR COMPANY DONATED CHURCH PARK, A PARCEL OF LAND BETWEEN MAIN AND WOOD STREETS, FOR THE METHODIST, PRESBYTERIAN, BAPTIST AND CATHOLIC CONGREGATIONS TO BUILD CHURCHES. IN AUGUST 1919, MISSIONARY MINISTER REV. C.E. CLARK CAME TO OFFICIALLY ORGANIZE THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH. THE TRUSTEES IN 1919 WERE C.J. BERNEY, MRS. C.A. DIERKS, CHARLES VALLENGA, MRS. W.M. BROOKS, E.S. REPP AND C.N. FRANKS. REV. T.W. ST. JOHN SERVED AS THE FIRST APPOINTED MINISTER. THE FIRST CHURCH BUILDING WAS A ONE-STORY FRAME STRUCTURE WITH STAINED GLASS WINDOWS, INCLUDING "JESUS PRAYING IN THE GARDEN," WHICH HAS BEEN INSTALLED IN SUBSEQUENT SANCTUARIES AND IN THE PRAYER CHAPEL OF THE PRESENT CAMPUS. EARLY MINISTRIES INCLUDED A CHURCH CHOIR, EASTER CANTATAS, WOMEN'S METHODIST MISSIONARY SOCIETY (LATER UNITED METHODIST WOMEN), YOUTH GROUPS, AND LOCAL, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL BENEVOLENT CAUSES. INCREASING MEMBERSHIP NECESSITATED RELOCATION, AND IN 1955, THE CONGREGATION PURCHASED THREE ACRES ON ELDRIDGE ROAD AND BUILT A MODERN CHURCH AND HALL. THE CHURCH BOUGHT ADDITIONAL ACREAGE IN THE 1960s AND COMPLETED A NEW BRICK SANCTUARY IN 1977. THE PRESENT 936-SEAT BRICK SANCTUARY WAS COMPLETED IN 1999. ADDITIONAL FACILITIES HAVE INCLUDED THE SCHOOL FOR LITTLE CHILDREN, YOUTH CENTER (FORMER LAURA ELDRIDGE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL), EDUCATION CENTER AND PERRY ABERNATHY RECREATION CENTER. THROUGH THE 20TH CENTURY AND INTO THE 21ST, FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH HAS MINISTERED TO THE SPIRITUAL AND PRACTICAL NEEDS OF ITS NEIGHBORS AND THE WORLD. (2019)