History
HISTORY
Prior to 1875, there was no Methodist Church
building in Willis, but a Methodist group was meeting in a school in the mid
1870’s, known as the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
On October 17, 1877, the Texas Land Company
conveyed to the Trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South two lots in
the town of Willis, Texas, for the sole purpose to be used as a site for a
church building. The building of the Methodist Church began that October, 1877,
and records show the Sanctuary was completed in 1879.
On May 19, 1966, the First Methodist Church was
named as a recorded Texas Historic Landmark by the Texas State Historical Survey
Committee and a historical marker was placed on the outside front wall of the
Church depicting the historical facts concerning one of the oldest churches in
Montgomery County, Texas
On April 23, 1989, the Church received a plaque
designating it as No. 157 by the General United Methodist Commission on Archives
and History. Fifty-eight ministers have served the Willis Church in the past
127 years.
The First United Methodist Church in Willis has
grown steadily through the last 127 years--from the small group of Methodists in
1877, worshipping in the one small building housing the Sanctuary-- to
approximately 250 who presently meet each Sunday in the Family Life Center. The
Church Complex today consists of the historic Sanctuary, with its original
Chancel Rail and pews held together with wooden pegs; a two-story Education
Building which houses the Church office, Pastor’s study, and Sunday School
classrooms; a Fellowship Hall; a Parsonage for the Pastor and family; and the
most recent addition, the Family Life Center which opened in October 2002.
From the rich heritage of the First United
Methodist Church, our members feel deeply the responsibility for building on the
foundation laid by our forefathers in the faith.