Texas Churches, synagogues and temples, historic, painted or abandoned. (original) (raw)
Candy Shops and Crossbones; Slaton, Texas 1920s by James Villanueva The night when Reverend Hardesty was to address the Skull and Crossbones militia, the Associated Press carried an account of it. �On Sunday night there were more people on the outside of the church building than on the inside,� he wrote. �People came from a radius of fifty miles.�...
The Circuit Rider by Bob Bowman Fowler was a circuit rider, missionary, marksman, chaplain of the Texas Senate and a brilliant pulpiteer who rode and walked thousands of miles between the Sabine River and San Antonio to found many of Texas� Methodist churches...
Making Prayer A Habit Really Works by Britt Towery Prayer has been an important and basic part of religions all the way back to the time of the dinosaurs. (Save your opinions on dinosaurs and humans living at the same time. I know they did not.) Here are some opinions on prayer...
It was a time we must never forget by Britt Towery Too soon we forget the terrorism of the 1950s and 1960s. The cross-burnings, obscene telephone calls, character assassination and political intrigue on those who believed in and fought for human rights and dignity, and against bigotry, hate and indifference.I was reminded of those years when I read of the passing of a man who stood for equality for all races. Charles Wellborn...
The Good Old Days (for Some of Us) by Britt Towery About five years after America�s Civil War ended, 1870, the majority of American Protestants were of the strong opinion that America was a Christian nation. There was in the nineteenth century indications that the Protestant majority carried the day...
Preacher Freeman by Mike Cox Religious beliefs aside, all of us owe a debt to the early-day Baptist and Methodist preachers who made their way to Texas to try to make a dent in all its sinners. Those Bible-toters not only saved souls, being literate in an era when many were not, they saved a lot of history in their written recollections...
Mobeetie Preachers by Mike Cox In 1887 newly married John M. Barcus filled the pulpit of the Methodist Church in Graham, then one of only a handful of towns in Northwest Texas...
Fall Roundup by Mike Cox Anyone who likes to hunt dove knows that hitting a small, fast-moving object in the air is not easy. In his 1937 book, �Memories,� J.B. Cranfill told the story of J. M. Carroll, a man who had the reputation of being the best wing shot in Texas...
Sanctified Sisters by Clay Coppedge "... In their day, which ran roughly from the 1860s to just after the turn of the century, the Sanctified Sisters existed as one of the most unusual and, in their own way, influential religious groups in Bell County history..."
Pistol-packing Preacher by Bob Bowman On his first morning in Groveton Lee presided at the funeral of a young church member who had been murdered. He soon named criminals from his pulpit and where they gathered...
Lord's Acre by Mike Cox "... In addition to whatever they might put in the collection plate each week, many farmers used to give the proceeds from one acre of their crop land to their church each year. Though not as common as it used to be, the tradition has endured in some corners of Texas..."
Rev. John August Tubbe by W. T. Block Jr. An Immigrant Farmer, Sawmiller, and Preacher In 1845 the gates opened widely for a flood of German immigration to Texas...
The Parker Family by Bob Bowman "... In the 1820s, Daniel Parker, an anti-missionary Baptist leader and member of the Parker clan that produced Cynthia Ann, stirred up Baptists in Illinois with his separatist beliefs and eventually led his family and neighbors to East Texas to write a new religious chapter in Texas history..."
Man with a Method by Archie P. McDonald "... Samuel Doak McMahon held the first meeting of Methodists in Texas in his home, located ten or so miles east of San Augustine, in 1832, but the arrival of Littleton Fowler in 1837 was the first authorized Methodist activity there..."
The Lady in Blue by Bob Bowman For longer than anyone can remember, the story of �the lady in blue� has existed on the fringes of East Texas history and religion.
Racing Parson by Mike Cox How a preacher held a horse race and build a church
The Church Lights by Bob Bowman When the church decided to phase out the old kerosene lights for safety reasons, Clark went to Jefferson Lighting Company of Ann Arbor, Michigan, and told them what he wanted..
Creating a Gospel Classic by Bob Bowman Songwriter Stuart Hamblem & "It's No Secret What God Can Do"