First Loves Its Heritage! 

Grapeland's First United Methodist Church was organized in 1888 by Pope Pledger of Reynard, assisted by Reverend Bolton of Crockett. The first services were held in a little boxed schoolhouse.

Pope Pledger was a circuit rider for the Methodist Church. Our church was served by a circuit rider at this time and our first circuit preacher was Reverend J. L.Whitescarver. In addition to being a circuit preacher, Reverend Whitescarver was also a gunsmith.

The land where our present parsonage stands was acquired in 1893 and the first church building was constructed on that site. Reverend D. L. Gain was the pastor.

A bell tower was built but had no bell. In December of 1895, the newly organized Grapeland Amateur Dramatic Club asked permission of the Town Hall Co. to use the Town Hall (upper story of the school) to present a play to raise money to buy a bell for the Methodist Church.

The church received this bell in 1893 and it was used for many years to call the members to worship. Years later, when church bells went out of style, Mr. Frank Taylor acquired this bell and used it for a farm bell.

 In October of 1924, the next building of First Methodist opened on North Oak Street. B. C. Anderson was the pastor. At that first worship service there were five babies baptized. They were Henry Ed Luker, George E. Darsey III, Clifford Howard, Jacquelyn Jones, and Clarence McCarty. The first wedding in the new facility was that of George R. Darsey and Agnes Murray.

The church notes for this building were burned and the church was dedicated in 1929. The twentieth anniversary of this building was celebrated on October 15, 1944 with Reverend Chester Phillips as pastor.

The fortieth anniversary was held on October 25, 1964 with Reverend Jesse Roberson as pastor. The fiftieth anniversary was in 1974 and Reverend Jed Hampton was the pastor. The seventieth anniversary was held in 1994 with Reverend Bill Smale as the pastor.

Men of the Church  Through the years the men of the church have always taken a very active part in seeing to the churches repairs, upkeep, and renovation. This began with the construction of the first church in 1894 to the day it was torn down.

On April 15, 1924, businesses closed, the men gathered to tear it down, salvaging the good lumber to be used in the construction of the new church. There was "dinner on the grounds" provided by the wives of the workers as they encouraged the men on with their work.

It has continued over the years in this church since 1924. And so it has continued - the women prodding the men to get something done! These men and women had also thought ahead and four years before had made pledges of money to be used for the purpose of erecting a new church building. The church value was $23,750 and only $7,000 had to be borrowed to pay for it.

In 1899 an unusual way of raising money for the church was thought of by W. B.Johnson, Mose Spence, George E. Darsey Sr., and Dr. H. S. Robertson. Our local newspaper was to be sold so they bought it with plans to use the profits for the building of a Methodist Parsonage. Dr. H. S. Robertson was to be the editor and a young man "Kid" Lucker was his printer's devil.

Women of the Church  The women have always played an active part in our church. Their group used to be known as the "Missionary Society." When the church was built, they ran a rummage sale every Saturday on the Darsey Store Warehouse porch. The church's memorial stained glass windows were also a special project of the women of the church. 

In recent years the project has begun again on a more limited basis with the Love Circle's annual Labor Day Weekend Garage Sale and Bar-B-Que. The memorial fund was begun in the late forties by the women with their first goal being to buy a new organ.

Vacation Bible School  VBS began in this church in the early 1930's by Reverend O. E. Vivian and it lasted six weeks each summer. Even though he was near retirement, he was especially fond of young people and many batches of fudge were made and candy pulls were held at the parsonage. At that time the youth group was called the Epworth League.

Christmas The beautiful Christmas trees that the church has had each year are the results of the work of  the women (with the assistance of the men in getting the tree up). The beautiful Crismon Tree ornaments were made by the women of the church under the leadership of Ardis Slack and Georgia Belle Richards.

The Christmas and Easter seasons haven always been a time of cooperation among all the churches in the area to have activities in keeping with the spirit of the season - religious parades, cantatas, and special programs.

Service to the Church  The contributions and service of the many ministers who have passed this way are endless. In the memory of our older members, Reverend B.C. Anderson stands out as a religious leader with exceptional organizational and money raising abilities. He helped carry the plans for the building of the current facility to completion. 

Our history could not be complete if we failed to mention with pride the service of Reverend Jack Shoultz. Jack grew up in this congregation and went on to great service in the Texas Annual Conference where he served over forty years as a pastor to various churches and served two terms as a District Superintendent.

After retiring he returned home and became active once again in our congregation. He served for a period of 1999 as interim pastor of the congregation following the death of another of our beloved pastors, Reverend Tom Morris.

Under the leadership of many fine pastors, board members, Sunday school teachers, and Church members, this Church has made a great contribution to the spiritual and moral development of our community.

First is still growing. We moved into our current facility in 2001. It was built with the desire by our congregation to expand membership and multiply our services to the community. We welcome all to come serve the Lord with us, experience the connectivity of a loving and caring local congregation and strong world wide organization.

May the peace of God be with You.