Wylie Methodist Church

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Wylie Methodist Church in Collin County. Now settle in, because this story goes back a long way, all the way to the 1850s, when several Methodist families packed up what they had and moved out to this stretch of Collin County. No building waiting for them.

No steeple on the horizon. Just the land, the sky, and a whole lot of faith. So they did what folks on the frontier did, they made do.

Early worship services were held right in people's homes, in the houses of the William Spurgin and Mark L. Morris families, to be exact. The Spurgin home, sitting about two miles northwest of where Wylie stands today, got so well known for those gatherings that people started calling it Spurgin Chapel.

That's the kind of thing that happens when a place earns a name. Now, by 1873, the community had grown enough that they raised up a one-room log building, Liberty Chapel, they called it, and it pulled double duty as both a church and a school. One room, two purposes, and probably not a quiet Sunday in the bunch.

Liberty Chapel served its people well enough, but 1897 brought something newer: a proper building, this one named St. Paul Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Meanwhile, a few miles over, settlers in the pioneer community of Nickleville, a town that would eventually be renamed Wylie, were holding their own worship services in a schoolhouse built by William H.

Lee. By 1887, that community had put down enough roots to purchase land for a new sanctuary, and the first Wylie Methodist Church was built. That building gave way in 1924 to a brick structure right here on this site, the one that's been standing watch ever since.

In those early years, the church was served by circuit-riding ministers, men on horseback making their rounds across wide stretches of country, including the Reverend Jacob B. Minnis among them. You had to want to preach pretty badly to ride circuit through Collin County.

Then came 1946, and the story of two congregations became one. St. Paul Methodist merged with Wylie Methodist, and together those members carried forward more than a century's worth of history and kept right on serving the community.

Two streams, one river. That's Wylie United Methodist Church, started in somebody's living room in the 1850s, and still going.

What the marker says

This congregation traces its history to the 1850s, when several Methodist families moved to this area of Collin county. Early worship services were conducted in the homes of the William Spurgin and Mark L. Morris families. The Spurgin home, located about 2 miles northwest of present Wylie, became known as Spurgin Chapel. By 1873 a one-room log building known as Liberty Chapel was constructed to serve as both church and school. It was replaced in 1897 by a new building named St. Paul Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Settlers in the pioneer community of Nickleville (later renamed Wylie) held worship services in a schoolhouse built by William H. Lee. By 1887, land was purchased for a new sanctuary and the first Wylie Methodist Church was built. It was replaced by a brick structure at this site in 1924. Served in its early years by circuit-riding ministers, including the Rev. Jacob B. Minnis, Wylie United Methodist Church has been a part of Collin county history for more than a century. The St. Paul Methodist Congregation merged with Wylie Methodist in 1946, and together the members continue to serve the community with a variety of programs. (1994)