History of the Congregation of the Grand Saline Church of Christ

Grand Saline Church of Church Building in 2008

Recently several people have become interested in the beginnings of the church of Christ in Grand Saline. The church now meets at 400 W. O'Hara in Grand Saline, beside the water tower.

The first reference to a church of Christ in Grand Saline is in the dictated memories of Mrs. W. L. Snow, owner of the impressive Snow Hotel in downtown Grand Saline, site of what is now Hill Real Estate.

She recalls coming to Grand Saline in 1907 with her husband and immediately began searching for other people of like faith. According to her, they found quite a number in the town and in the area, but even then there was a sense of division as some referred to themselves as "Christians" and others as members of the Church of Christ. That source of division was over the use of instrumental music in the worship.

Mrs. Snow remembers in her written memoir that as neither group had a house of worship, they decided to all meet together each Lord's Day for the purpose of Bible study. They first met in a large vacant room above the Texas Short Line Depot which was furnished with a table and crude benches made of plank. This building was later destroyed by fire.

After that they met in a large room above the bank in the downtown area where for several years they enjoyed Bible study.

It was then suggested that a minister, a Brother Brooks, and a song leader, a Miss Gail Wilhite, be employed for a two or three week period for a revival. Since the members approved, a large tent was erected in the South part of town. This proved to be a successful meeting which saw many additions of those who were baptized into the faith.

Mrs. Snow recalls that after this successful meeting, the members felt strong enough to erect a building of their own but "the age-old controversy arose over instrumental music in the church." She says that neither side would conscientiously yield their convictions and thus it caused division. Quote, "The Church of Christ members then built a neat church in the West part of town."

In 1917, the Christian Church was dedicated with 38 charter members. Later, on Sunday, July 25, 1937, they had a homecoming listing workers, the official board, Bible school officials, and the women's council which included the musicians. It was on this happy occasion that they listed their church membership roll made up of some of the town's best known citizens. Among the names were Mr. and Mrs. Clinton Kirby and Mr. and Mrs. J. G. Kirby who later became active members of the church of Christ on O'Hara Street.

Not much made it into print in the early days of the church of Christ in Grand Saline. One man who ran a series of announcements in the Grand Saline Sun about the church was Ira Brumfield.

The following announcements can be found in the archives of the Grand Saline Sun:
"January 8. 1920: Elder Work Woods will preach at the Church of Christ Sunday. Good congregation last Sunday. Interest is growing. Everybody invited. Ira Brumfield"

January 15, 1920:

"Preaching at the Church of Christ Sunday and Sunday night. We are expecting J. M. Childress, an evangelist from Bowie, who will preach at night all next week. Everybody who wants to hear the gospel in its purity and simplicity invited. You laboring men. Come and bring your families. You will find a welcome. Ira Brumfield"

March 4, 1920:
"There will be preaching at the church of Christ Sunday morning at 11 o'clock. Ira Brumfield"

April 1, 1920:
"Preaching at the Church of Christ every Sunday. Interest is growing. Several entire families have taken membership with us recently. Good singing. Everybody invited. Ira Brumfield"

Besides inviting people to services of the Lord's church, Mr. Brumfield put other articles in the paper. On that same date, one announcement read as follows: "Married, at the residence of Ira Brumfield at 8 o'clock Monday evening, Marvin Byrd to Miss Gertrude Moore, Brother Brumfield officiating."

April 22, 1920:
"Married at the residence of Elder Ira Brumfield Saturday evening at 8 o'clock, Mr. Tullie Anderson to Miss Osa Douthit, Elder Brumfield officiating."

That same date, there was this announcement:
"I. R. Kirby, son of S. B. Kirby, and Miss Bell Lawless were married at the residence of Elder Ira Brumfield at noon Saturday, Elder Brumfield performing the ceremony. The bride's home is at Marsh, Texas, but she has been a popular teacher in the East Center school for the past two years."
(Some members today may recognize I. R. Kirby as Ramey Kirby, brother to Gill Kirby, father of Clinton Kirby. Mrs. Lawless Bell became known as Aunt Bell and was a popular teacher of the young people at the church in Grand Saline.)

Researching the oral history of the Grand Saline congregation of the church of Christ has been difficult but enjoyable. A few people still living remember some of the early days of the church here in Grand Saline. Some remember stories of the hardship and yet faithful service by these older members. Stories are told of how the women carried on the work when World War I took so many of the men. One such worker was Georgia Copenhaver, an ancestor of many of present day members. It is told that she walked regularly in from the Sand Flat area on what is presently Van Zandt County Road 857, a distance of two miles. Red clay and poor roads were a problem for those walking or driving. Joyce Adkins Sloan remembers Copenhaver hill and the problems they had in making it up and down to go into town. She recalls her dad pulling people and their cars out of the mud and her brother Truman "volunteering" to take her into town when the road was especially bad. Mrs. Copenhaver's daughter Mae and Mae's children remember being expected to be faithful in their attendance when most of the traveling was done on foot.

Besides being faithful in attendance, "Grandma Copenhaver", as she was called, was also knowledgeable in the Scriptures. As granddaughter Maenell Copenhaver can confirm, they were expected to study the Bible. Sometimes when they studied nearby in the large house, Grandma Copenhaver would correct them if she heard them make a mistake in the home Bible studies.

Grandma's knowledge of the Bible was so respected that after the men returned from the war, they continued to look to her for counsel.

Yes, World War I took many of the men away from their families. There were other faithful women who helped with the worship when no men were present. Among those were Mrs. Jimmie White and Mrs. Lizzie Geddie. The Word was important in these women's daily lives. They enjoyed listening to the Bible being taught sometimes while they quilted, in a building or outside, in hot weather under a brush arbor. Sometimes they had protracted meetings lasting two weeks or more. Euliss McKenzie, son of Jim McKenzie, sometimes held meetings under an arbor.

Mrs. Georgia Copenhaver has many descendants in the area even now. Names such as Stough, Clower, Presswood, Smith, and Precise, to name just a few, have friends and relatives still in the Grand Saline area.

Other members in the church here in recent years have fond memories of church members of the early days. Vivian McMakin was raised in the Sand Flat community. Her mother was a Padgett and her father was H. O. Gandy, a familiar name to those in the church.. Her mother was baptized by C. D. Record, an early circuit preacher in the 1920's Remembering those days, Vivian tells that the tank behind the Sand Flat church was used for baptisms.

Old timers tell that in the early days, the church had no preacher who lived in Grand Saline. The members felt they could not afford to pay a full-time preacher. The men came on certain Sundays for quite a long time and thus members considered him "our" preacher. One such circuit preacher to come in the early 1920's was Joe S. Warlick. He came on a train and stayed at the home of Mrs. Jimmie White (Maureen White Skinner). He owned a Bible publishing business in Dallas. Another preacher in the 20's was a Brother Ring. After his wife passed away, he married a sister in Christ who owned the newspaper in Canton. Another preacher was Willis Jernigan. One woman remembers that he started preaching when he was nineteen. She had a vivid memory of him wearing a bill cap. Members said he was well loved and that he preached the truth. Some members recall the meeting held by Luther Blackmon. One memory is of the car he drove with the bumper sticker reading "Out of date but out of debt."

During the 1930's and 1940's men like George Desha; and a Brother Pettigrew baptized several; Lyle Price, whose name was in the Sun began September 6, 1942; Ollie Duffield, an active young man contributed articles to the Sun and worked as a speech teacher in the local high school; Wesley Jones spent much time teaching the large group of young people on Sunday evening; a Brother Doggett; and Malcom Bowen also preached in Grand Saline.
In the 1950's and 1960's the church had men like Thomas Campbell, who went down regularly to Snuffy's Corner in downtown Grand Saline to talk with people about the Gospel; Barney Thompson, who was here from 1958-1962 and was very popular with the members; Dean Bullock; Charles Beauschardt; and D. L. Freeman; and Wilson Coon.

In the 1980's men like T. E. Webb, Barry Pennington, Kenny Peden, Paul Kelsey, and Randy Farr located here.

At the present time, 2008, Jacob Hudgins is working with the church.

Some members of the church may be interested in two articles which appeared in the Grand Saline Sun in 1951. The first is dated March 1, 1951 and reads as follows:
"A complete architect's drawing for a new brick edifice will be submitted within the next 10 days to the members of the Grand Saline Church of Christ, it was announced this week by minister Wesley Jones.
A. D. Hinman of Dallas has been working on plans for the new church for the past year. According to Mr. Jones, the building will be of brick construction and in the shape of a modified "T."
Location of the building will be on west Highway 80. The ground has already been leveled and is ready for construction. Actual building of the new church is expected to begin sometime this year, Mr. Jones said.
LARGE AUDITORIUM. When completed, the church will contain eight Bible school rooms and an auditorium 100 feet long and 44 feet wide. Plans call for the auditorium to seat 375 persons. Dimension of the lot on which the building is to be located is 300 feet by 200 feet.
The architect's plans will be displayed at the present church building as soon as received. Local elders who will supervise the building construction are A. A. Presswood, Clinton Kirby, and George Smith.
According to Mr. Jones, a fund-raising campaign to collect the down payment on the building will begin shortly. Total cost of the new church was not announced.
Membership of the local Church of Christ now stands at 165." (This was in 1951.)

The second announcement in the Grand Saline Sun is dated May 3, 1951 and reads as follows:
"An architect's drawing of the outside of the proposed new Church of Christ building was received this week by minister . L. W. Jones. However, the drawing was damaged in mailing, and the Sun was unable to secure an engraving to reproduce the drawing in this week's paper.
Estimated cost of the edifice is $35,000. Construction is to start when sufficient funds are raised, according to the church's elders Clinton Kirby, George Smith, and Arleigh Presswood. The building, to be of brick construction, will be located on West Highway 80."

In looking at the history of the Church in Grand Saline, one is reminded of the Scriptures such as Proverbs 31:10 about the work of a virtuous woman, and of the Apostle Paul's statement in 1 Corinthians 3:6 in which he says "He planted and Apollos watered, but it was God that gave the increase.

We will not attempt to look into the future of the church in Grand Saline only to say that as long as we are willing to plant the seed, the word of God (Mark 4:14), God will supply the increase. It is our purpose to keep ourselves strong in the faith, and to glorify God by taking His word out to the lost. We exist today as a congregation of the Lord to do His will, and we are bonded together by love which motivates our faith founded in His Word.

History compiled by Gloria Johnstone

Photos from the collection of Galloway Darby

Photo restoration by Betty Phillips

This page last updated May 22, 2008