Wall Brethren Church

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Wall Brethren Church, out in Tom Green County. Pull up a chair, because this one's got roots that run deep into the Texas soil, and they run all the way back to the old country. It starts in the summer of 1929.

Czech-speaking Brethren families, families who had been putting down roots over in Granger, Taylor, and Rowena, made a move. They came here, to the Wall community, and when you're building a congregation from scratch, you make do with what you've got. Early services were held right in worshipers' homes.

Living rooms and kitchen tables standing in for pews and pulpits. Then in the fall of 1929, something opened up. An unused Methodist church in Wall became their place of worship.

And right away, they got to work. Records show twenty-eight active members in that first Sunday School and worship services. And in October of 1929, nineteen communicants gathered specifically to worship the sacrament of Holy Communion.

That's a specific number, and specific numbers mean someone was paying close attention. This congregation meant business. Now, they needed a pastor.

They prevailed upon the Reverend Josef Hegar, who was living in Temple at the time, to be their first. I like that word, prevailed. Suggests it took some convincing.

But he came. The Czech language was spoken in Sunday School and in church services, carrying the sound of the old country right into the West Texas air. And in 1933, the members formally organized and were received into the Evangelical Unity of the Czech Moravian Brethren, later known as the Unity of the Brethren, at the state convention held in West.

The congregation was officially part of something larger now. Three years later, in 1936, they made a move that told you everything about where their minds were headed. They bought a half-acre in Wall for a future church site.

They were planting a flag. For a time they met over in Fairview, holding things together, keeping the thread unbroken. And then in June of 1937, they dedicated the first permanent church.

That half-acre had become something real. Also in 1937, the Christian Sisters organized. And here's where the story gets a little delicious.

The Christian Sisters support the church financially by baking and selling kolaches. That is a ministry with a very specific aroma, and it has been going strong ever since. In 1947, the state convention of the Unity of the Brethren was held right there in Wall.

And at that convention, the Unity of the Brethren adopted English to replace Czech as the official church language. A turning point, held in the very town where so many Czech-speaking families had gathered nearly two decades before. The congregation kept growing.

In August of 1955, they dedicated a new church, with that first permanent church from 1937 remodeled into a fellowship building. Nothing wasted, nothing left behind. New parsonages came in 1966 and again in 1977.

Fellowship buildings followed in 1982 and 2010. A new sanctuary was dedicated in 1994. Each of those dates is a chapter, a moment when the congregation looked around and said, we need more room.

In 1956, the Brethren Youth Fellowship was organized, making sure the next generation had a place in the story too. Today, Wall Brethren Church supports community programs including Boy Scout Troop 321 and a shared community Thanksgiving service with St. Ambrose Catholic Church.

That shared Thanksgiving service, two different congregations sitting down together, feels like exactly what you'd expect from a church that has spent nearly a century learning how to welcome people in. The marker says Wall Brethren Church recognizes its rich ethnic history and the diverse backgrounds and traditions of its current members. A congregation that started with Czech-speaking families in borrowed spaces, that debated language and built buildings and baked kolaches through it all, knows exactly who it is.

And Wall, Texas, is richer for it.

What the marker says

This congregation dates from summer 1929, when Czech-speaking Brethren families from Granger, Taylor and Rowena moved here. Early services were held in worshipers' homes. In fall 1929, an unused Methodist church in Wall became the place of worship. Records show 28 active members in the first Sunday School and worship services, with 19 communicants gathered to worship the sacrament of Holy Communion in October 1929. The Czech language was spoken in Sunday School and church services. The congregation prevailed upon the Rev. Josef Hegar, then living in Temple, to be the first pastor. In 1933 members formally organized and were received into the Evangelical Unity of the Czech Moravian Brethren (later Unity of the Brethren) at the state convention held in West. In 1936, members bought a half-acre in Wall for a future church site and met for a time in Fairview. The first permanent church was dedicated in June 1937. At the state convention held in Wall in 1947, the Unity of the Brethren adopted English to replace Czech as the official church language. The growing Wall congregation dedicated a new church in Aug. 1955, with the first church remodeled as a fellowship building. New parsonages (1966, 1977), fellowship buildings (1982, 2010) and a new sanctuary (1994) followed as the church continued to grow. Wall Brethren Church supports many community programs, including Boy Scout Troop 321 and a shared community Thanksgiving service with St. Ambrose Catholic Church. Ministries include the Brethren Youth Fellowship (organized 1956) and the Christian Sisters (organized 1937), who support the church financially by baking and selling kolaches. Wall Brethren Church recognizes its rich ethnic history and the diverse backgrounds and traditions of its current members. 175 Years of Texas Independence * 1836 - 2011