White Deer United Methodist Church

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about the White Deer United Methodist Church out in Carson County. Now settle in, because this is a story about seven people, one tough little town, and more than a few decades of showin' up when it counted. Back in 1911, the Rev.

W.B. McKeown was doing something not many folks could pull off. He was organizin' Methodist congregations all across the panhandle, and in White Deer, he gathered seven charter members and started a church from scratch.

Seven. That's your whole congregation right there. Not exactly a crowd, but they were committed.

In those early days, the congregation didn't have a building to call their own, so they shared the town's school building with several other denominations. Then the Presbyterians, also in 1911, went ahead and constructed a church building, and that building too was opened up for the other churches in White Deer to use. Community sharing was just the way of things out there on the plains.

The ladies of the congregation were not sitting still either. In 1916, church women formed a ladies aid society in support of missionary work. That group is still going today, now known as the United Methodist Women.

In 1918, the trustees made a move. They purchased six lots with their eyes set on building a sanctuary of their own. That building was completed in 1922, standing on the northeast corner of West Fourth and Doucette Streets.

Four years later, in 1926, they added the church's first parsonage. Then 1951 came around, and here is where the story takes a hard turn. A tornado devastated White Deer.

It destroyed the town's schools. And that congregation, grown from seven charter members, opened its doors as one of several temporary school sites. When your town needs you, you open the doors.

That's what they did. A Methodist men's organization was first organized in 1956, and by 1960, the congregation had simply outgrown its first structure. So they moved to a new site at the intersection of West Eighth and Main Streets.

That new building was constructed at a cost of ninety-six thousand dollars, and when the last nail was in and the last pew was set, it was completed debt-free. Not a dollar owed. In 2004, a community food pantry was begun as a ministry of the church, and it continues today as a joint effort between several churches and volunteers.

Seven charter members in 1911. A tornado in 1951 that took the schools and got answered with open doors. A new building in 1960, paid in full.

The marker calls White Deer United Methodist Church the oldest continuously active congregation in the community. Oldest and still going. That's not a coincidence.

That's a congregation that learned early how to outlast a storm.

What the marker says

A Methodist Church was first formed in White Deer in 1911. The Rev. W.B. McKeown, who worked to form several panhandle Methodist congregations, organized the church’s seven charter members. The congregation shared the town’s school building with several denominations until the Presbyterians later in 1911 constructed a church building, which also was shared with the other churches in White Deer. In 1918, trustees of the Methodist Church purchased six lots for the construction of their own sanctuary. The building, completed in 1922, was situated on the northeast corner of West Fourth and Doucette Streets. The church’s first parsonage was erected in 1926. When a tornado devastated White Deer and destroyed the town’s schools in 1951, the Methodist Church opened its doors as one of several temporary school sites. When the church outgrew its first structure, the congregation moved to a new site at the intersection of West Eighth and Main Streets in 1960. This new building, constructed at a cost of $96,000, was completed debt-free. Community outreach has been an important part of the church’s ministry since its inception. Church women formed a ladies aid society in 1916 in support of missionary work, and the group is now known as the United Methodist Women; a Methodist men’s organization was first organized in 1956. A community food pantry was begun as a ministry of the church in 2004 and it continues today as a joint effort between several churches and volunteers. White Deer United Methodist Church, the oldest continuously active congregation in the community, endures as a spiritual leader.