DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker tells it this way, and I'm just the voice carrying it down the road. Now settle in, because this one covers some real ground — across cultures, across languages, across a whole young republic still figuring out what it was going to be. The man at the center of it all is the Reverend John Wesley DeVilbiss, and his title says just about everything: Circuit Rider.
That means he didn't wait for a congregation to find him. He saddled up and went looking. DeVilbiss came to the Republic of Texas in 1842, riding out to the Hispanic borders in the southwest, ministering to immigrants and native Texians alike.
Way out here in what the marker calls a far outpost, he was doing something that took more than faith — it took patience, and nerve, and an eye for the long game. He was pioneering among people of varying cultures, working to promote harmony among them. That word — harmony — carries a lot of weight when you think about where he was and what was swirling around him.
Then comes April of 1844. DeVilbiss walks into the county clerk's office in San Antonio, and he delivers the first sermon in English ever given in that city. Think on that a moment.
The county clerk's office. Not a grand cathedral, not a purpose-built church — a clerk's office. And yet the marker says it plainly: he did it to lay foundations for a confluence of civilizations.
That's a phrase worth repeating. A confluence of civilizations. He later inspired the organization of Oak Island Church, in 1867 or '68 — the marker gives you both years, honest about the uncertainty, and I appreciate that kind of honesty.
And the building that went up in 1872? It still holds furniture made by DeVilbiss and his son. The preacher who rode the circuit and built the congregation also built the chairs.
Sometimes a man's whole story is right there in the details.
What the marker says
Circuit Rider DeVilbiss came to republic to Texas in 1842 to minister on Hispanic Borders in the southwest. He pioneered among immigrants and native Texians to promote Harmony in varies cultures in this far outpost. In county clerk's office in April 1844 he delivered first sermon in English ever give in San Antonio--to lay foundations for confluence of civilizations. Inspired organization of Oak Island Church, 1867 or '68. This building of 1872 holds furniture mande by Devilbis and his son.