Worship
services are held each Sunday at 8:30am, 9:45am, 11:00am and 6:00pm.
The 11:00am service can be heard on radio station KRVL (94.3 FM)
and seen on TV channels 13 and 51 at 1:00 PM Sundays and again at
9:00 PM Wednesday on channel 51. Sunday
School is normally at 9:45am for
all ages with some classes at 8:30am, and one adult class at 10:45
AM.
The church hosts a full-time day care program called Children's
Ark as a part of its outreach ministry. Over 100 children receive
care weekdays from 7:30am until 5:00pm, with meals provided. An
after-school program for children from end of the school day
until 5:30pm is also provided. During the Summer months, this
program is replaced by "Day Camp" for the school age
children. The Children's Ark is one of the few facilities in the
area which will accept infants as young as six weeks.
Youth activities occur each
Sunday, dinner at 5:00pm, and activities until 7:00pm.
A Bible Puppet Time is held each Thursday at 10:00am during the
Summer for children of the community.
There are two very active women's groups within the church; the
United Methodist Women and the
Workshop Group. The Workshop Group holds an annual Home and
Garden Tour, decorates the church Christmas tree with elaborate,
handmade Crismons and they support the mission of the church in a
variety of ways.
A men's Bible study meets each Wednesday at 7:00am and the United Methodist Men
meet the
first Tuesday of each month at 7:00am for breakfast, fellowship,
and a program.
The Music Ministry is quite
active and includes four children's choirs, two hand bell groups,
two hand chime groups, a church wind ensemble, a quartet, and two
adult choirs. The church also hosts the annual Community Wide
"Messiah Sing" in December and the Community Wide
Patriotic Sing" in July. Congregational singing is supported
by the 59 rank Ruffatti pipe organ that was built in Padua, Italy.
The Hill Country Youth Orchestra meets at the church.
A major emphasis of the Kerrville First United Methodist Church
is Bible Study. Eight Bible studies weekly include Disciple I, II,
and III and a study for women using the "Joy of Living"
series.
An active, intergenerational Singles group meets regularly at the
church, as well as in homes and local restaurants
.History
In
1856, land was donated by the founder of Kerrville, Joshua D.
Brown, for a Methodist church. While building was delayed until
1871, worship was held in homes. The first church building,
located at the present site of Sid Peterson Memorial Hospital,
was destroyed by a storm.
Beginning in 1876, the Commissioner's Court granted the use of
the District Court Room "for use as a place of worship of
Almighty God." In 1885, Captain Charles Schreiner donated
two lots on Clay Street, between Main and Jefferson. A Union
Church, to be shared by all congregations, was built.
It was while the Methodists were meeting in the Union Church that
Rev J.S. King decided that a resident minister was needed for the
Kerrville congregation. The women of the church raised money and
a parsonage was erected. The first resident minister was F.S.
Perrin, who selected the site for the Methodist Church -- the
corner of Sidney Baker and Jefferson Streets.
In 1892, the dedication ceremony for this church was held. This
church was a one-room frame building with the usual belfry above
the entrance. The little frame church served the congregation
until the late twenties. A new brick structure of Spanish
architecture was planned and completed in 1927. In the late
forties, a chapel and additional classrooms were added. By 1858,
it was necessary to add a Fellowship Hall.
In the early seventies, a move was started to build a ground
level, handicapped accessible sanctuary. No land was available
adjacent to the existing facility, so a decision was made to
relocate to the church's present site at 321 Thompson Drive. At
that time, moving across the river put the church out of the
city! The property which had served the church for eighty-five
years was sold in May, 1976. Worship was temporally moved to the
Mount Wesley Conference Center pending completion of the new
church home. On June 19, 1977, the congregation, led by Rev
Harold Sassman, went by caravan from Mount Wesley to worship in
the new location on Thompson Drive.
Future
An
additional ten acres of land has been purchased, adjacent to the
Thompson Drive location to allow further expansion of the
facilities. A new education building, gym, Fellowship Hall,
offices, parking, music area, and addition to the Sanctuary are
all improvements being accomplished now. The new education
building is complete and fully functional (Consecration services
were in August, 1998).
General
The church has several
beautiful art objects, among the most prominent is the windows
which were created by Raventos of Spain. Also by Raventos, the
"Cross of Commission" is a four directional cross over
the globe referring to the Great Commission of Christ in Matthew
28:19-20: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that
I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even
to the end of the age. Amen."
The Chancel area furnishings were also made by Raventos.
Beautiful parquetry using a coral wood inlay adorns the front of
the Communion Table, Pulpit, and Lectern. The large hanging cross
in the Chancel is crafted of wood, high relief ceramics, and
laminated brass. The Baptismal font rests on a cross shaped base
of varnished oak and is topped with a smaller version of the
"Cross of Commission."
The church is fortunate to have banners and paraments which were
designed and created by the artist, Marilynn Branham. Each banner
depicts a different season of the church with carefully selected
symbols.
The chapel is located to the rear of the Sanctuary. All the
furnishings and cross are from the old church. The windows from
the formal chapel have been installed in the Thompson Drive
location. The paneling in the front of the chapel and over the
double door entrance to the parlor came from the United States
Embassy in Paris and was a donation to the church.
The membership of the Kerrville First United Methodist Church
believe in a strong Christian witness through community service.
Everyone is welcome to all services and programs. The church
phone number is (830) 257-0800 and the office is open weekdays
from 8:00am to 5:00pm.