Margarita CoronadoHoney Grove High School

Honey Grove Fannin County

Instructor, Jon Banker

Building the McKenzie United Methodist Church

Beginning of Methodism in Honey Grove

Methodism in the Honey Grove area began in 1842. A man named W. B. Allen donated a plot of land to

the Methodist congregation. On that

land a one-room log cabin was built they began to meet, and Rev. James Graham pastured the

church. Baptists formed a congregation which met in the same log cabin, around

a year later. The small rural chapel was the

mother church for Honey Grove Methodism.

Apart of the Union Church

The congregation grew and finally moved to Honey grove, where it joined a Union Church in 1856. The Union Church was at the north end of 6th St. and was built on the land donated by B. S. Walcott. Methodists shared this one-room

log church with the Baptists, Cumberland, Presbyterians, and Christians. Each of the

denominations sponsored worship one Sunday each month. The fourth Sunday belonged to the

Methodists.

Becoming the Methodist Church

In the late 1870s the Methodists pulled away from the Union Church and became a charge in the Methodist Episcopal Church

South. The charge was served by itinerant preachers called circuit riders. Honey Grove’s last Methodist circuit rider was

Rev. W. A. Moss. During his appointment, the present site of the Methodist Church

was bought and in 1879 a church building was begun.

Structure

The Methodist Church had a Gothic structure, built of natural

rock from the William Floyd quarry which was located near

Rock Point south of Honey Grove. The sanctuary could seat

about 450 worshippers. The current name of the church was

given by Dr. J. W. P. McKenzie (also called Father McKenzie)

who gave his name to the church. The stone on today’s

build is the original stone from the William Floyd quarry.

Picture of above is a photo of the William Floyd quarry.

Windows of the Methodist Church

In 1874, the congregation of McKenzie Methodist Episcopal Church South was privileged to welcome the honored and loved educator

and preacher to the church which still bears his name, Dr. McKenzie

The elegant stained glass window in the east end of the Philathea Sunday School classroom was donated in 1887 in honor of Dr.

McKenzie by the church’s organization of young women, the Galloway Society. The Galloways, incidentally, were named for Bishop Charles

B. Galloway.

Expanding

The North Texas Annual Conference planned to hold its annual session in

Honey Grove in 1887, which necessitated the

expansion of the building to the west.

This sparked the move for construction. The

church hosted the Annual Conference

again in 1899.

Jacob FeinBy 1910, the congregation had outgrown its facilities. Jacob Fein, Honey Grove contractor and builder, was employed to build the new structure. He used red pressed brick and native stone, with ornamental trim from the old building. Mr. Fein included the pews and altar rail from the 1881 church. The Honey Grove Signal newspaper reported that on Sunday Morning, January 29, 1911, “The congregation entered the splendid new building cemented by the golden ties of love and determined to do great things for the extension of the Master’s Kingdom on earth.” Dedication of the building came on March 31, 1912 and was led by Bishop Edwin Monzon of Dallas.

TodayToday the great McKenzie United Methodist Church is lead by Rev.

Vivian Crowson. The stained glass windows still adorn the walls of the church and the original stone is still in place. This church and its

history are truly breathtaking.

Rev. Vivian Crowson pictured above

McKenzie United Methodist Church

701 7th St, Honey Grove,

TX 75446

The End

Works Cited• http://honeygrove.fatcow.com/BVML%20Web%20Pages/Honey%20Grove%20Web%20Pages/

honey_grove_historical_photos.htm• http://www.honeygrovepreservation.org/mckenzie-methodist-church.html• http://www.honeygrovepreservation.org/mckenzie-methodist-church-photos.html• http://www.honeygrovepreservation.org/mckenzie-methodist-pastors.html• http://www.northtexasumc.org/churches/McKenzie-UMC-Honey-Grove.html• http://www.texasescapes.com/TOWNS/HoneyGrove/honey_grove.htm• http://honeygrove.fatcow.com/BVML%20Web%20Pages/Honey%20Grove%20Web%20Pages/

a_pictoral_tour_of_honey_grove.htm• http://www.annandave.org/HG%20churches.htm• http://www.waymarking.com/gallery/image.aspx?f=1&guid=09d7e85a-ffed-4260-985d-

ed62f5e26951• http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth380036/m1/1/Photos of present interior Church are courtesy of Rev. Vivian Crowson. Photos of exterior views of the Present Church were taken by Margarita Coronado.