DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the First United Methodist Church of Harlingen. Now settle in, because this one goes back over a hundred years, and it's got hurricanes, a preacher walkin' between towns, and a brick church that beat Easter Sunday like a deadline. February 19, 1910.
Thirty-one charter members gathered and founded Harlingen's Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Now, they didn't have a building to call their own right off — they were sharing a frame sanctuary with several other denominations. That's the kind of arrangement that keeps everybody on their best behavior.
The Rev. R. L.
Pyle was handling the circuit back then, and I mean that almost literally — he often walked between his charges in Harlingen and San Benito. On foot. In South Texas.
In the early 1900s. Later, the Rev. J.
D. Dorsey was appointed the first full-time pastor, which was a considerable upgrade in commitment for everyone involved. Now here's where the story picks up some momentum.
Harlingen founder Lon C. Hill offered the congregation church lots, and they picked this very site. Then they set about building — and not just any building.
The city's first brick church. And they had it done by Easter Sunday, 1911. You want a deadline that focuses a congregation, try Easter Sunday.
Once Pastor Dorsey was settled in as full-time pastor, the Women's Missionary Society got to work raising funds to build him a parsonage. Why? Because Dorsey had been living in the church itself.
The man was committed, no question about it. The congregation grew right along with Harlingen through the years. By 1926 and into 1927, under the leadership of the Rev.
W. P. Buckner and the Rev.
J. T. King, a new sanctuary and parsonage were built.
Growth has a way of demanding more room. Then came the Labor Day hurricane of 1933. It devastated the city.
And in that devastation, the church became a refuge for many. That is not a small thing. When a storm tears through and people have nowhere to go, a church that opens its doors becomes something more than a building.
Harlingen Army Air Field opened in 1941, and the congregation grew again, this time with military personnel arriving in the area. Church members volunteered with the Red Cross and held many events for the men and women in uniform. Thirteen members of the church were killed during World War II.
Thirteen. In their memory, a memorial organ was gifted for the chapel. Some gifts are heavier than others.
After the war, expansion continued — a new education building, a tower with carillon bells, a chapel and parlor, and local media broadcasts that carried the church's voice out beyond its walls. The congregation also helped organize El Buen Samaritano, Wesley, St. Paul's, and Valley Praise Methodist Churches.
In 1967, Combes Methodist Church merged with Harlingen. And then the congregation merged with the United Brethren Church, and it was after that merger that the church became the First United Methodist Church of Harlingen. The entrance was renovated in 1968.
Memorials over the years added stained glass windows, a multi-use building, and a welcome center. Layer by layer, decade by decade, the place kept growing into itself. More than a century after those 31 charter members came together on a February day in 1910, the marker says the congregation continues to be a beacon of light to the community.
Started with folks sharin' a frame building and a preacher walkin' between towns. Ended up with bells in a tower, windows full of colored light, and a hundred years of showing up when the storms came. That's a pretty good run.
What the marker says
On February 19, 1910, 31 charter members founded Harlingen’s Methodist Episcopal Church, South, sharing a frame sanctuary with several other denominations. The Rev. R. L. Pyle often walked between his charges in Harlingen and San Benito; the Rev. J. D. Dorsey was later appointed the first full-time pastor. Harlingen founder Lon C. Hill offered church lots, and the congregation selected this site, building the city’s first brick church by Easter Sunday 1911. The Women’s Missionary Society soon raised funds to build a parsonage for Dorsey, who had lived in the church. The congregation grew rapidly along with Harlingen. A new sanctuary and parsonage were built in 1926-27 under the leadership of the Rev. W. P. Buckner and the Rev. J. T. King. When the labor day hurricane of 1933 devastated the city, the church became a refuge for many. Harlingen Army Air Field’s opening in 1941 brought new growth, as church members volunteered with the Red Cross and held many events for military personnel. Thirteen members of the church were killed during World War II. In their memory a memorial organ was gifted for the chapel. Postwar expansion included a new education building, tower with carillon bells, chapel and parlor, and local media broadcasts. The congregation helped organize El Buen Samaritano, Wesley, St. Paul’s, And Valley Praise Methodist Churches. In 1967, Combes Methodist Church merged with Harlingen. This Church became the First United Methodist Church after merging with the United Brethren Church. The entrance to the church was renovated in 1968. Memorials added stained glass windows, a multi-use building and the welcome center. More than a century after its founding, the congregation continues to be a beacon of light to the community. (2010)