How it all started...
Methodism first arrived in Johnson County in 1852 through a circuit-riding camp meeting near Grandview. Soon after, Methodist services in Cleburne were held outdoors under a temporary brush arbor. These early gatherings were led by Rev. Jerry Easterwood, who is affectionately remembered in our history as "the One-Legged Preacher."
Eleven years later, a small congregation organized formally in the Mabry House, raising walls and doors as funds allowed and meeting at the courthouse whenever the weather wouldn't cooperate.
Driven by determination and faith, in 1869, a group of just 27 charter members built the very first Main Street Methodist Church at the corner of South Main and Harrell. While it was a simple structure, it provided a true spiritual home for the next quarter of a century and laid the foundation for who we are today.
Eleven years later, a small congregation organized formally in the Mabry House, raising walls and doors as funds allowed and meeting at the courthouse whenever the weather wouldn't cooperate.
Driven by determination and faith, in 1869, a group of just 27 charter members built the very first Main Street Methodist Church at the corner of South Main and Harrell. While it was a simple structure, it provided a true spiritual home for the next quarter of a century and laid the foundation for who we are today.
Expanding the vision...
As Cleburne grew, so did its Methodist congregation. In 1899 the church relocated to the corner of Main and Brown, and by 1902 had built a striking new sanctuary, complete with a pipe organ and stained glass windows (still shining the light in our sanctuary today). By 1933, the congregation had grown to more than 900 members, and Main Street Methodist had become known as the "mother church" of Methodism in Cleburne, planting three additional congregations across the city.
By the mid-1960s, it was time to expand once again. Ground broke on a new six-acre site at the corner of Westhill Drive and Colonial Avenue. Along with the physical move, the congregation was renamed First Methodist Church, officially becoming First United Methodist Church in 1968 as they settled into the campus we still call home today. When fire tragically destroyed the sanctuary in 1976, the congregation didn't scatter; they worshiped alongside the members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church down the road while rebuilding, and returned home in 1978, bringing along the same pipe organ and stained glass windows into a new season.
By the mid-1960s, it was time to expand once again. Ground broke on a new six-acre site at the corner of Westhill Drive and Colonial Avenue. Along with the physical move, the congregation was renamed First Methodist Church, officially becoming First United Methodist Church in 1968 as they settled into the campus we still call home today. When fire tragically destroyed the sanctuary in 1976, the congregation didn't scatter; they worshiped alongside the members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church down the road while rebuilding, and returned home in 1978, bringing along the same pipe organ and stained glass windows into a new season.
Where we are headed...
Today we share the same dedication as that original congregation, living from deep roots of connection to Cleburne and, now, to the Horizon Texas Conference. What began as a handful of families gathering under a brush arbor has become a church organized around a clear, living pathway: Gather, Grow, Go. In 2025, we integrated that pathway as the foundation of how we function , so that the voices of our ministries shape our decisions.
More than 170 years after that first camp meeting, our mission hasn't changed We still strive to live out our mission to make deeply committed disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world, one life at a time.
We're grateful for every generation that carried this church forward to this one, and we're just as committed to carrying it faithfully into the next!
More than 170 years after that first camp meeting, our mission hasn't changed We still strive to live out our mission to make deeply committed disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world, one life at a time.
We're grateful for every generation that carried this church forward to this one, and we're just as committed to carrying it faithfully into the next!
