Methodism Comes to Texas, By Nora McMillan
With the foundation laid by the work of John Wesley’s preachers as early as
1766, the Methodist Episcopal Church in America was organized in Baltimore at
the Christmas Conference of December 24, 1784. Following the American Revolution
the Methodist Church grew in numbers and in influence due to the dedicated
Gospel preaching of the early circuit riders.
For some reason, however—most likely because Texas was still officially under
the government of Mexico—very few Protestant preachers had come to Texas. So, on
August 17, 1835, Col. William Barrett Travis sent a letter to the New York
Christian Advocate and Journal appealing for Christian literature, but even
more importantly, suggesting that contact be made with the Methodist bishops and
Board of Missions requesting preachers be sent to Texas. The Texas Methodist
Centennial Yearbook printed his letter, a portion of which follows:
"….We are very destitute of religious instruction in this extensive
fine country, and the circulation of your paper here will be greatly
beneficial in the absence of the stated preaching of the Gospel…
I regret that the Methodist Church, with its excellent itinerant system…should
have neglected so long this interesting country…
About five educated and talented young preachers would find
employment in Texas, and no doubt would produce much good in
this benighted land. Texas is composed of the shrewdest and
most intelligent population of any new country on earth; there-
fore, a preacher to do good must be respectable and talented.
In sending your heralds to the four corners of the earth, remember
Texas."
However, Stephen F. Austin had written a letter to Josiah H. Bell, dated
February 24, 1829, that read:
Dear Sir:..The subject of preaching must be managed with prudence,
for I do assure you that it will not do to have the Methodist
excitement raised in this country…." (The Austin Papers, U. S.
Printing Office, 1928, p. 174)
So which was it? A country "destitute of religious instruction" or a country
experiencing "the Methodist excitement?" Probably both. Methodism had grown in
the young nation because of the dedicated early circuit riders. The Great
Awakening of the 1730s, identified by some historians as a "rehearsel" for the
revolutionary events of 1776, fueled the spiritual growth of the new nation.
George Whitefield, a 27-year old Anglican minister, was the best known
"Methodist" revivalist of the period. While Methodism experienced growth during
the next 100 years, Texas was a different matter. Texas was first Spanish
territory, then in 1821, Mexican territory. In response to an enormous flow of
Americans into Texas during the early 1830s, the Mexican government responded
with the Law of April 6, 1830 that prohibited slavery and required that incoming
settlers learn the Spanish language and practice Roman Catholicism. Of course,
these requirements were never seriously considered.
Stephen F. Austin was acquainted with Methodism. The historical record shows
that William Stevenson, a Methodist circuit rider and friend of Moses and
Stephen F. Austin, arrived in Texas and began preaching near an old buffalo
crossing called Pecan Point in 1815 (today in Red River county). Stevenson’s
trip was the first of three phases through which the Methodist faith was
introduced into the Spanish Province of Texas. By 1822 there were 65 white
Methodists on the Pecan Point circuit, as well as one black member, the first
Negro Methodist in Texas. When Jerome Berryman was appointed to the Red River
churches in 1829, he said: "What…bordering Texas! A land of red savages and
white refugees from justice" (Vernon, et al.)
The Methodist Excitement in Texas, Dallas: The Texas United Methodist
Historical Society, 1984, p. 26-7).
Because of his friendship with Austin, Stevenson wrote a letter to Austin in
1824 inquiring about the feasibility of sending Methodist preachers into areas
such as Austin’s colony. Austin wrote to Stevenson that there was "an exclusive
religion in favor of the Roman Catholic, which is the law of the land, and, as
such, must be obeyed. And if a Methodist or any other Preacher except a
Catholic, was to go through this colony preaching, I should be compelled to
imprison him" (Vernon, et al., p. 29).
Stevenson was not deterred. An official Texas State historical marker on
Interstate 30 near Mt. Vernon reads:
The Rev. William Stevenson (Oct. 1768-March 5, 1837), a Missourian,
friend of Stephen F. Austin, preached in 1815 at Pecan Point on the Red River,
North of here. Records indicate that his were the first Protestant sermons ever
given in Texas, then a part of Catholic ‘New Spain.’" Many settlers also entered
Texas through Red River County.
Henry Stephenson also investigated the possibility of preaching in Austin’s
colony. Austin, however, gave him no encouragement…"saying one Methodist
preacher would do more mischief in his colony than a dozen horse-thieves"
(Vernon, et al., p. 30). Stephenson, however, made one astute observation,
noting that the Mexican government was "anything else but stable…" (Vernon, et
al., p. 30). He actively organized camp meetings and visited and preached in the
Sabine area, Nacogdoches, Bastrop, Gonzales, and elsewhere. He reported forming
Methodist societies at various places with memberships of 28, 16, 10 and 20
(Nancy B. Parker, editor, "Mirabeau B. Lamar’s Texas Journal," Southwestern
Historical Quarterly, October, 1980, pp. 212-3).
In the fall of 1834, Stephenson was appointed to the "Texas
Mission," the first use of the word "Texas" in a Methodist listing.
The second phase began in 1824 when the Reverend Henry Stephenson made
contact with a number of Methodists among Austin’s Old Three Hundred. The third
phase began in 1837 when Bishop Elijah Hedding and the New York Missionary
Society sent three official missionaries in response of Christ’s challenge "to
go into all the world and preach the gospel."
The Reverend Martin Ruter was appointed superintendent of the Texas mission
in 1837. However, Ruter died later that same year and the Reverend Littleton
Fowler was selected by the Mississippi Conference as the superintendent. The
Conference, which met December 3, 1838, appointed the following ministers to
work in Texas: Littleton Fowler, Samuel A. Williams, I. L. G. Strickland, Robert
Alexander, and Jesse Hord ("A Brief History of the La Vernia United Methodist
Church 1876-1976) by Gordon Miller, editor.
The Rio Grande Mission Conference was constituted by the General Conference
in May of 1858.
Its first official session was held in Goliad, Texas, on November 9, 1859.
Four years later, the Fifth Session of the Conference was held in Sutherland
Springs, Texas. In 1864, the "Mission" status was dropped, and in 1866 the name
was changed to the West Texas Annual Conference.
According to Gordon Miller, the Unification Conference held in 1939 merged
the West Texas Conference with the previously merged Southern (German and
Swedish) Conference to become the Southwest Texas Annual Conference. In 1968,
the Methodist and Evangelical United Brethren denominations merged to become the
United Methodist Church, retaining the conference name, Southwest Texas Annual
Conference. [Continued on Page One-Click
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