This Week in Texas Methodist History  Nov, 29

 

 

Five Buildings Dedicated at Methodist Home in Waco  Nov. 28, 1941

 

 

 

 

The dedication of a building is a significant and happy occasion in Methodist life.   On Nov. 28, 1941 not one, but five buildings were dedicated at the Methodist Home in Waco.  These buildings expanded ministries to children who needed residential care.

 

At least 2000 attendees were there for the dedication.  The Gov. Coke Stevenson was there as was former Gov. Pat Neff (also Baylor Univ. President).  Five Bishops (Moore, Hay, Boaz, Smith, and Holt) were also there.  So was a future bishop, Paul Martin of Wichita Falls, pastor of two of the donors who financed the buildings. 

 

The buildings were four residential units and an infirmary.  The donors of the residences were Mr. and Mrs. Joe Perkins and Joe Bridwell, both of Wichita Falls,  Mr. and Mrs. T. C. Mitchell of Marfa, and Mr. and Mrs. H. A. Williams of Fort Worth.  The infirmary was given by R. P. Willis of Atlanta, Texas. 

 

The philanthropists continued their generosity.  The Perkins and Mr. Mr. Bridwell supported theological education at SMU.  Mr. Willis donated an infirmary to the Texas Conference encampment at Lakeview in Anderson County. 

 

 

This Week in Texas Methodist History   November 22

 

Texas Conference Ignores Report of Educational Commission,  Admits Candidates Under 2/3 Rule

 

The 20^th century witnessed a growing demand for a more educated clergy.  That trend accelerated after WWI.   The General Board of Education of the MECS sounded the alarm about poorly educated pastors.  The Board reported that of the 262 candidates admitted to its annual conferences in 1922, 22 had been admitted via the 2/3 Rule.  The Texas Conference accounted for 6 of the 22 so admitted. I won’t go too deeply into church 100 years ago, but the rule stated that candidates with only a high school education could be admitted into conference with a 2/3 rather than majority vote.  Texas high schools of the era typically had only 11 grades.  The result was that many Texans finished their formal education at age 16.

 

The Texas Conference met in Mount Pleasant in November 1923, and the Conference Board of Education endorsed the General Board’s recommendation that the 2/3 rule be used in only the most exceptional circumstances.  That recommendation was ignored.  On Friday Nov 23 the names of Leon Bass, John William Black, and James Waggoner were presented to the conference for admission under the 2/3 rule.  All 3 were admitted.

 

Waggoner was appointed to the Henderson Circuit; Black to the Durango Circuit; and Bass to the Boston Circuit.  

 

 

 

Educational standards became more rigorous.

This Week in Texas Methodist History  Nov. 15

 

A. J. Weeks Promotes Phelan’s Second Volume,  November 1936

 

Thee are are few standard reference works most Texas Methodist historians consult regularly.  Homer Thrall published the first history of Texas Methodism in the 19^th century.  That work was relied upon both documentary sources and his personal recollections.  Thrall transferred from Ohio to the Republic of Texas and cultivated friendships with many of the leaders of the Republic and early statehood periods. 

 

The next author to write a comprehensive history was Macum Phelan.  His History of Methodism in Texas `1817-1866 was published in 1924.   It relied heavily upon Thrall and the various annual conference journals. 

 

Macum Phelan enjoyed good health enough to begin work on a second volume and hoped to have it published in time for the Texas Centennial in 1936.  Unfortunately the Centennial occurred during the Great Depression, and the Publishing House would not publish volume II until it had enough pre-sold enough copies to break even.  Although Texas history is a fascinating topic, the Publishing House assumed that the book would not have universal appeal. 

 

The manuscript was prepared in time for the fall 1936 annual conferences which were held jointly in Houston so attendees could tour the San Jacinto Battlefield.  Alas, not enough copies had been pre-ordered.  A. J. Weeks, editor of the Southwestern Advocate, attended all the conferences in his reportorial capacity and took it upon himself to moonlight as a book salesman. 

 

He took order blanks to the conferences and solicited sales.  Volume II, The Expansion of Methodism in Texas 1867-1902. did not have the sales appeal as volume I, and Weeks returned to Dallas with only about ¼ the necessary pre-sales.  The price was $4.00. 

 

He then pushed the volume in the pages of the Advocate until the Publishing House was satisfied.  Volume II came out in 1937.

 

Thrall and the two Phelan volumes stood as the main comprehensive works on the subject until The Methodist Excitement in Texas was published in 1984.  Financing for Excitement was accomplished by each conference agreeing to buy in quantity and then resell them.  There are still unopened boxes of Excitement in the Texas Conference Archives. 

 

 

This Week in Texas Methodist History   Nov. 8

 

Texas Conference Appoints Agricultural Missionary to Panola County, November, 1945

 

The Texas Conference met in Houston First Methodist Nov. 6-9, 1945

 

World War II had ended just a few months earlier, and Conference members embraced returning chaplains who had been discharged from the armed forces and were returning to accept civilian appointments.  Some chaplains had not yet been mustered out, but, as in the case of Rev. Lamar Clark, were represented by their wives, who brought greetings from their husbands who were still in uniform.

 

When historians write about the social, demographic, and economic changes brought about by World War II, they often concentrate on the industrialization of Texas.  Not just on the Coastal Plains, but also in the northern counties of the Texas Conference, military production had boomed.  Refineries, chemical plants, and other facilities had sprung up all over the Conference. 

 

Historians are less likely to write about the flip side of the story---what was going on in the farm sector?

 

World War II had produced a revolution in rural Texas too.  Rural Texas left farms by the hundreds of thousands to join the military service or one of the new defense plants.   Since most of those who left were in their prime working age, that created a shortage of agricultural labor.  The last agricultural census before World War II showed that most East Texas counties had a mule to tractor ratio of 10 to 1 or even higher.  By contrast, the High Plains counties were also completely mechanized with far more tractors than mules. 

 

The Texas Conference was vitally interested in rural churches.  For several decades there had been a Town and Country Commission to focus on rural work.  With growing recognition of the changing demographics, that Commission was interested in new forms of ministry to the rural churches.

 

One of their steps was the appointment of an agricultural missionary, Carl Beadle to the Deadwood Circuit in Panola County in November 1945.   It was a three point circuit—Deadwood, Galloway, and Waterman’s Front (Front).   Regular readers of this column will know Deadwood as one of the more prominent rural Methodist communities—with roots in the MEC , and the home of the LaGrone family who have been active in Texas Methodism for years. 

 

Besides serving the three churches, Beadle would also live on a 25 acre farm and use it as a demonstration farm to promote better agricultural practices.   Beadle was a graduate of Texas A & M and also of Scarritt, the main Methodist missionary-training institution.  In addition to serving the three churches and running the demonstration farm, Beadle also enrolled in seminary at SMU.

 

In 1949 he transferred to the Holston Conference in Appalachia. 

 

A Time of Testing: Across the Finish Line

 We are going through a time of testing. We can learn from those who have crossed the finish line, the saints who have gone before us in the faith, as we seek to do well in these times.

Big Things: Hope

 Looking at what's happening in the world at any given time we may feel justified extrapolating to either optimism or pessimism. Christian hope is neither. Our hope isn't based on extrapolating from what's happening in the world but on God's faithfulness demonstrated in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.