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The History of the First Christian
Church of McKinney - Established 1848
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This congregation was formed on April 1, 1848, when about 20 persons
gathered to worship at the home of Nancy and Joseph Bryson Wilmeth.
After a picnic lunch, the group journeyed about two miles South of the
Wilmeth cabin to the new county seat of McKinney. Desiring that
the first institution in the town be a religious body, they met at the present
site of the courthouse square and formally organized in an unfinished
barn and later in Collin County's log courthouse.
Lay preachers who conducted services included Wimeth and James
Sanford Muse, both of whom had studied under Alexander Campbell, one of
the founders of the Christian Church.
Members of this congregation erected their first church building in
1858 and shared the small frame structure with other
denominations. In the tradition of the day, men sat on one side of
the sanctuary and women on the other.
Despite hardships of the frontier life and the chaos of the civil
war, this fellowship grew and flourished. IN 1872 the Rev. R.C.
Horn became the first full-time pastor. Members erected their
second church building in 1897 and in 1970 dedicated the present
facility. The congregation stands prepared to make a major
addition to this facility in the year 2003.
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