Our History

On the Lord's Day, September the 20th, 1856, what is now the South Main Church of Christ held its first meeting in the B.K. Emerson home on the west fork of Sanchez creek (seven miles south of Weatherford) to hear H. H. Taylor preach. 


According to "Church book Number One", eight males and seven females, and the preacher, became members that day, making the Church of Christ one of the oldest churches in Parker County. (Parker County was officially created by an act of the Texas Legislature on December 12th, 1855.) 


Following the Civil War in 1869, the Clark family conducted a revival, resulting in 46 baptisms, giving the church its first real boost in membership. 


Subsequent ministers included Scarbrough who preached in 1870, Joseph Clark (sometimes assisted by his son A. Clark) preached in 1872, and evangelist Mansil Matthews (pictured above) preached in 1874. There was no regular minister for the church between 1875 and early 1877. 


Henry Bantau (pictured here), called a Minister of great power, began preaching for the Weatherford congregation in February of 1877. 


He was converted in Tennessee, where he began his preaching career at age 18. He was proficient in Greek and Latin. 


For health reasons he came to Texas for the climate. After preaching at several places, he settled in Millsap, Texas, where he farmed. He began preaching at the Church of Christ.   


In 1866 the church started meeting at 201 South Main Street, in a small framed building that was 60 feet by 38 feet. Most of the furniture was handmade by the congregation. 


The first preacher at the South Main location was brother N. B. Hoffman. In prior years, any willing man in attendance could be the preacher. Town Creek served as the baptistry for the South Main congregation during its early, formative years.  


In 1890, a baptistry was dug just east of the church building. The cellar like structure was lined to better hold the water, which was carried from a nearby well. 


The next two decades brought considerable growth for the church (as well as some decidedly different opinions among its membership). The great organ debate split the congregation in 1894. A third of the membership, intent on using organ music in their worship, left and later became the Central Christian Church.


In 1904 the frame building as torn down and replaced with the rock building which still stands. It was constructed of sandstone taken from the Garner Community. Most of the labor was provided by members of the church. During the late 1800's and early 1900's, churches of Christ were often called Christian Churches. Over the entrance to the sandstone building are the words "Christian Chapel 1857 - 1904".      


The new building consisted of an auditorium that would seat 350, and two classrooms behind the pulpit. The baptistry was built under the stage where the pulpit stood. The building was cooled with four ceiling fans, and members sat on cane-bottomed chairs. in the 1930's eight additional classrooms were built at the northeast corner of the auditorium. 


By the mid 1950's, two Sunday morning services were required to accommodate the growing church. In 1956, the church's 100th year anniversary, work began on the new air-conditioned auditorium. The auditorium is still in use today as the sanctuary where services are held every Sunday.