This Weeik in Texas Methodist History May 8, 2022 San Marcos Methodists Announce Near Completion of Parsonage, May 1879 Most Methodists who do not serve on the Board of Trustees of a local church don’t think too much about parsonages. They are so much a part of our churches we on’t think about them. In the early years of Methodism, parsonages were very rare. That was something of an irony since John Wesley’s childhood and youth were spent in a rectory, the same thing as a parsonage. Circuit riders usually stayed with Methodist families on the circuits they served. They were mainly unmarried young men who lived out of their saddlebags. When a circuit rider married, it often meant that the preacher had to “locate” to provide a home for his family. Francis Asbury lamented about losing preachers “to the marriage bed.” His words carried the weight of personal experience. He never married andf never had a permanent home. After the Civil War, as Texas became much more urbanzed, the demand for parsonages increased, but the denomination did not mandate that churches supply a parsonage. In the MECS much of the effort of parsonage construction fell upon the women of the community. The Home Missionary Society actually changed it name to reflect the trend. It became the Home Missionary and Parsonage Society, thereby the reflecting the prevailing attitudes of the era of “separate spheres” for the sexes. When a station church did provide a parsonage, it was a big deal, so the construction of a parsonage in San Marcos was a newsworthy event in May 1879 when the local paper covered the event. Although parsonages became standard in the towns and cities, the situation in rural circuits was a patchwork. When my grandfather served the six point Keltys circuit in 1920, there was a parsonage, buty since he was unmarried; he was expected to rent one of the rooms and providfe the rent money to the church. Sometimes the parsonage was rented. Sometimes it was owned. As late as the 1920’s an unmarried preacher might stay in a hotel. Such was the case in Tomball where the preacher, a Rev. Vance, died in a hotel fire. When my father served the Dekalb Circuit in 1940, he spent every night in the home of a church member. Most Texas Methodists churches still have parsonages. Specifications for the quality of those parsonages are clearly outlined, but a trend to return to the days of not having parsonages is also strong. Some churches have gone to a housing allowance which may be used for rent or mortagage payments as the pastor sees fit.