Rosebud’s First United Methodist Church to have 75th anniversary

The First United Methodist Church will hold a special service Sunday, November 9, 2025, to commemorate the 75th anniversary of its current building. The Rev. Phil Shuler will conduct the service and Steve Slovacek, church pianist, will play the piano.

The church itself is 137 years old, having been established in 1888, and met at first in an old log schoolhouse. “Old Brother Nelms” was a retired Methodist preacher who came to Rosebud to organize a Methodist church. Before that time the few Baptists and Methodists living in the area shared the schoolhouse. The first two Sundays the Baptists met, and the second two Sundays the Methodists met. On fifth Sundays the two groups held a joint service.

The first Methodist minister was the Rev. J. P. Skinner, a circuit rider who lived on a small farm in Wilderville, a rural community east of town. Rev. Skinner was more of a circuit “walker” than a rider, because to spare his horse that had worked on the farm all week, Mr. Skinner walked the seven miles to Rosebud and the seven miles back.

Under his direction the group planned and built a one-room church in the north section of Rosebud. The church, which was painted white, was complete with a steeple and a bell. The first pews were wooden boards held up by beer kegs. The boards were donated by Sam G. Henslee, Sr., who was working in the first lumberyard in town. The beer kegs were donated by Benton Willey, a saloonkeeper and a devout member who loved to sing the religious songs.

That building was replaced in 1911 because the congregation had outgrown the little white one-room building. Property was purchased on Main Street for the new building. Construction was begun in 1910 and completed in 1911. It was the largest building in Rosebud and built at a cost of $45,000. Furnishings brought the final cost to $64,000. Baccalaureate services for the graduating classes of Rosebud High School were held in the auditorium for 25 years. A new Hammond organ was installed in 1946.

When that building burned February 9, 1949, the Hammond organ, five pianos, an old-fashioned pump organ and all the church records and archives were destroyed. One song book was saved. Instrumental in the total loss of the church was that the weather that night was freezing and the water froze in the fire hydrants. Melvin Wright, a church member and a member of the fire department, said later that all anyone could do was watch the church burn.

Construction of the current building was completed in 1950, but the building was not dedicated until November 25, 1956, when the Rev. Leon Peacock was pastor. The original building consists of the sanctuary with beautiful stained-glass windows, a parlor, a pastor’s office, a church library, restrooms and several Sunday School classrooms. In March of 1976 an addition consisting of a fellowship hall and kitchen, restrooms, and a nursery was dedicated.

It is the part completed in 1950 which the congregation is celebrating with the November 9 service.

[Most of the information concerning the early church was taken from “A History of the First United Methodist Church, Rosebud, Texas, 1888-1984,” compiled by Bruce Royal and Melvin Wright.]