This Week in Texas Methodist History May 14
Dallas Hosts General Conference, May 1902
The General Conference of the MECS met only twice in Texas. The first time was in 1902. Delegates came to Dallas in May of that year to carry out the denomination's work. Dallas had emerged as the leading city not only of Texas, but of the entire South Central United States. Its rail connections to Chicago, Kansas City, St. Louis, and Memphis gave it commercial advantages none of its rivals could match. Securing the General Conference was only the latest in a series of civic achievements Dallas boosters could point to.
One of the items before the General Conference was the continuing dispute over annual conference boundaries in Texas. Every general conference since 1858 had been petitioned to change annual conference boundary lines one way or another. Some petitions were from individual congregations and districts that wished to put in another conference. Some petititioners from Louisiana and Arkansas even wanted to be included in one of the Texas conferences. The larger problem, though, was a gross imbalance in membership among the conferences. The North West Texas Conference was by far the largest. It had 66,876 members. Its expanse was great--from Taylor all the way to Dalhart. The North Texas Conference boasted 49,402 members in Dallas, Sherman, Denton, Paris, and other bustling cities. The Texas Conference (21,438) and East Texas Conference (33,891) members combined total was less than the North West Texas Conference. The West Texas Conference was the smallest with 16,259 members. (all figures from 1900 Journals)
The 1902 General Conference tried to resolve these imbalances. It did so by combining the Texas and East Texas Conference and moving the Austin District of the Texas Conference to the West Texas Conference. The combined conference would retain the name, "Texas Conference."
The solution to the imbalance was short lived. Only eight years later the North West Texas was split. The Central Texas Conference was created from its southernmost territory thereby drawing the boundaries that have remained to this day.
The General Conference of the MECS met only twice in Texas. The first time was in 1902. Delegates came to Dallas in May of that year to carry out the denomination's work. Dallas had emerged as the leading city not only of Texas, but of the entire South Central United States. Its rail connections to Chicago, Kansas City, St. Louis, and Memphis gave it commercial advantages none of its rivals could match. Securing the General Conference was only the latest in a series of civic achievements Dallas boosters could point to.
One of the items before the General Conference was the continuing dispute over annual conference boundaries in Texas. Every general conference since 1858 had been petitioned to change annual conference boundary lines one way or another. Some petitions were from individual congregations and districts that wished to put in another conference. Some petititioners from Louisiana and Arkansas even wanted to be included in one of the Texas conferences. The larger problem, though, was a gross imbalance in membership among the conferences. The North West Texas Conference was by far the largest. It had 66,876 members. Its expanse was great--from Taylor all the way to Dalhart. The North Texas Conference boasted 49,402 members in Dallas, Sherman, Denton, Paris, and other bustling cities. The Texas Conference (21,438) and East Texas Conference (33,891) members combined total was less than the North West Texas Conference. The West Texas Conference was the smallest with 16,259 members. (all figures from 1900 Journals)
The 1902 General Conference tried to resolve these imbalances. It did so by combining the Texas and East Texas Conference and moving the Austin District of the Texas Conference to the West Texas Conference. The combined conference would retain the name, "Texas Conference."
The solution to the imbalance was short lived. Only eight years later the North West Texas was split. The Central Texas Conference was created from its southernmost territory thereby drawing the boundaries that have remained to this day.
posted by texman at 6:32 AM
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