Photo Post Card from the collection of Edward L. Williams

First Christian Church of Carrollton
By Eva Biggerstaff

Seventy-five years ago, on April 23, 1903, some ten or twelve determined Christians organized the First Christian Church of Carrollton. For about two years services were held on the second floor of the Vandergriff Building at the northeast corner of the square. Wooden planks were used for seats with no backs on them.  In 1905 the congregation erected a one-room frame building, according to the best information available, on the west side of Elm Street between Fifth and Sixth Streets. There was no baptistery in the building and these services were held in a small creek west of town on a farm owned by Fred Booth, a Negro.

In spite of inauspicious beginnings the church continued to grow and the building pictured here was completed in 1916 on a lot at the southeast corner of Walnut and Erie which had been donated by Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Davis, charter members. Many projects were undertaken to pay for and furnish the building, one of which was picking cotton. Mr. J. C. Davis, who owned a cotton farm, offered all the cotton the members could pick in one day. More than three bales were harvested with the held of many Baptist and Methodist friends.

Besides the Davises mentioned above, other charter and early members of the church have been Mr. and Mrs.. J. T. Rhoton, Mr. and Mrs. Tom Vandergriff, M. and Mrs. C. L. Chastain, Mr. and Mrs. J. B Chastain, Mr. and MRs. Frank McMurray, and Dr. and Mrs. E. W. Burnett, all of whom contributed a great deal to the ongoing of the church.  Insofar as is known, there are no charter members still living.

During the depression years there were not enough members to support a church but they were too dedicated to quit. They continued to meet every Sunday for study and worship. On occasions women presided at the Lord's Table because there were no men present. Starting in 1942 under th leadership of a student minister the church began to grow. In 1950 the church was able to call a full-time graduate minister from Texas Christian University, Mr. Jack W. Stewart. Under his guidance the church set up an organization with functioning departments. Due to expansion, a four-room education building was constructed on the church grounds in 1951.

Again the church outgrew its facilities and the congregation voted to move to its present site at Walnut Street and Josey lane, completing the first facility in early 1957, with a second educational building in December 1958, and the present sanctuary in 1969.

The church has been served my many ministers, some part time, some full time, students from Texas Christian Univeristy and the Dallas Bible institute, as well as retired ministers. Many dedicated Christians, both members and ministers, have been associated with the chruch causing it to be an asset to the Carrollton-Farmers Branch community

Elm Fork Echoes - The Peters Colony Historical Society of Dallas County, Texas. Vol. 6 No. 1, April 1978