Our roots can be traced
to 1846 when Dallas was a village and a place where Methodist preachers
would stop for worship while riding the circuit. The congregation
has had three previous locations in various places before the Trinity
Methodist and First Methodist congregations combined in 1916. The
church was to benefit from Dallas’ rapid growth and the urgency
to create a central downtown house of worship was realized. World
War I made it more challenging to raise funds, but with generous
members and membership of 2,147 the congregation was able to get
the project underway.
The cornerstone was laid in October, 1921
and the first service was held on February 7, 1926. In those days
the churches referred to their worship area as a "main auditorium", but the
beautiful place of worship for First Methodist was called a "sanctuary." One
can see why when visiting our historic sanctuary today.
In those
early summer days, the open church windows would allow the magnificent
sounds of music and worship to fill the streets of downtown.
Those sounds can be heard still as one nears the church along with
bells ringing and a sense that lives are influenced here.
To view the history of FirstChurch “Church at the Crossroads” is now available on line. Click here to view.
The easiest way to read it is to click on “Read Online” under the “View the book” box on the left-hand side. Once it is displayed you may wish to click the + zoom button to sharpen the image. From this view you can read page by page or search for specific subjects via the search box on the right-hand side of the page. |
