185 Years of Faith

One of Fayette County’s oldest Christian congregations celebrates its 185th anniversary this Sunday.

New Life Methodist Church in La Grange, which dates back to the time of the Texas Revolution, will host a celebration this Sunday, Aug. 18. The day will begin with a worship service at 10 a.m. at their sanctuary at 1215 N. Von Minden St. in La Grange. The service will include special musical guests, the New Soul Invaders.

Then at 5 p.m., the congregation will celebrate a worship and communion service at their old sanctuary, the former Travis St. Methodist Church, which is today located on the grounds of Festival Hill in Round Top.

To find the origins of this Christian community, you have to travel back in time to when Texas was part of Mexico.

“This is one of the early areas where Methodism came to Texas,” said Rev. Andy Smith, pastor at New Life Methodist Church. “Methodist circuit riders from Arkansas occasionally preached in FC since 1824. John Rabb, an early settler, set up camp meetings in 1834.”

New Life Methodist Church traces its history to 1839. That’s when a Methodist congregation formed in Rutersville just as the Methodist Church established a college there, the Rutersville College, The college was the brainchild of Dr. Martin Ruter, for whom the town and school were named. Ruter was a Methodist missionary who came to Texas in 1836.

“The Methodist Church in La Grange got its first building when the County constructed a new courthouse in 1848,” Smith said. “The County sold the old frame courthouse to the Church. Later it was moved from the Square to a lot on S. Washington St., with the addition of a choir loft and organ. In 1857, La Grange became the head of the Methodist circuit in this part of Texas.”

In 1883, the congregation built a white frame church on Travis St. It was located between what is now H-E-B and Golden Chick. At that time, the congregation was named Travis Street United Methodist Church. They built their first educational building in 1931 and then another in 1962.

The congregation remained there until 1993, when they built a new sanctuary on North Von Minden St., which is the church’s current home. The congregation changed its name to First United Methodist Church of La Grange. The old Travis St. chapel was disassembled and moved to the Festival Hill grounds in Round Top, where it is now known as the Edyth Bates Old Chapel.

The United Methodist Church worldwide went through a split in recent years over disagreements about theology, especially in regard to questions of sexuality.

“The United Methodist Church changed in theology, becoming what I would call more unitarian, universalist expression of Christianity,” Smith said. “I’m not condemning that, but that’s not who we are as Methodists.”

Smith said his congregation voted to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church and join the Global Methodist Church, a more conservative body.

“We’re not interested in changing our Christian faith to accommodate a culture,” Smith added.

“It was not a unanimous vote,” he added. “A handful wanted to remain. Some of those who voted against still remain with the church. A few decided to depart. We grieve and miss them terribly.”

Following the disaffiliation, the congregation once again changed its name, this time to New Life Methodist Church of La Grange.

The church suffered a blow back in January when a massive water leak flooded the sanctuary when no one was around. Smith said the church wrangled with its insurance company. When the insurance money finally arrived, the company dropped their coverage.

“We struggled mightily to find new insurance coverage,” he said.

Despite the recent challenges, Smith said he believes the future is bright for New Life Methodist Church.

“As we seek to be faithful, this church and this community has an outstanding reputation for being a good neighbor,” Smith said. “We took a lead role in the Hurricane Harvey recovery. Every year we provide Thanksgiving meals on Thanksgiving Day. Even during COVID, we still provided Thanksgiving meals. We’re partnering with Crosspoint Church on some projects. This church cares about the community. It has a good heart and wants to serve one another.”