Making History Today: Chasing Rabbits

Presbyterian Historical Society of the Southwest

James S. Currie, Executive Secretary

In recent weeks two mysteries having to do with past Presbyterian congregations have come to light. Both churches were in Texas. The one, according to records at the Presbyterian Historical Society in Philadelphia, had a lifespan from 1907-1978. It was First Presbyterian Church in Barker, Texas which is just west of Houston. The church may have been a Northern Presbyterian church, but it also might have been part of the Southern Church. 

The other was in Bee Cave, Texas, located west of Austin on Highway 71. That church came to our attention when we discovered that William Stuart Red served as pulpit supply there from 1920-1923. While it is not clear when it was organized, the PHS reports that it was dissolved in 1923. According to one account, when a post office was opened in the 1870s, the village of Bee Cave received its name. “By the mid-1880s Bee Cave had a steam gristmill, a cotton gin, a general store, a church, a school, and twenty residents” (plaque in the Bee Cave Art Park). Was the church the Presbyterian church? At this point we don’t know. Evidently, there is mention of  a Bee Cave Presbyterian congregation in the minutes of Central Texas Presbytery in 1909. 

The mystery around these churches involve several questions: Who served as pastors? Where exactly did these congregations worship? How many persons participated in the life of these churches? And when was the Bee Cave church organized? It seems that neither congregation was part of the Cumberland branch and at least the Bee Cave church was part of the PCUS (Southern Presbyterian Church). Hopefully, past presbytery minutes will shed some light on these questions regarding both the Barker and the Bee Cave churches.  

These mysteries raise the more fundamental question, So what? Who cares? For one thing the stories of those churches are part of our story. For another the idea of “chronological snobbery”, attributed to C.S. Lewis, comes into play. Chronological snobbery is defined as “the uncritical acceptance of the intellectual climate common to our own age and the assumption that whatever has gone out of date is on that account discredited” (Surprised By Joy, Chapter 13, p. 254 in Harper Collins edition). In other words, the past doesn’t matter because it is past and is therefore of little or no importance to us in the present. 

In his play Requiem for a Nun William Faulkner famously has one of his characters say, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past” (Vintage Books, p. 73). While Faulkner, no doubt, is right, Isaiah’s words are, no doubt, also true: “Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” (43:18-19b). And we dare not forget St. Paul’s words about the freshness and goodness of the gospel in II Corinthians 5: “everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!”

In an earlier column reference was made to John Leith’s observation that “those who do not remember cannot be thankful for what has been bequeathed them.” We may not know now who those folks were in Barker or Bee Cave, who their pastors were, where they worshiped, or what kind of witness to the gospel they bore, but we can be grateful not simply to know about them, but what they have bequeathed to us. 

While recent years have seen the closure of a good number of Presbyterian churches, there are plenty of good, innovative, and important things going on in Presbyterian churches – both large and small – today, and we give thanks to God for them. We also hope that what is being done today is laying the groundwork for future generations. But if the time of a church’s life is spent, that does not mean that its legacy is over. Who knows? Perhaps their influence is being felt by churches that are now alive and well in that same geographical area. There are good Presbyterian churches in those areas today. 

John Ellerton’s hymn, “The Day Thou Gavest, Lord, Is Ended”, while considered an “evening hymn” in some hymnals and “an expression of missionary expansion” in others, might also be seen as one that tells the story of the renewal of the church by the Spirit over the course of generations. 

The day Thou gavest, Lord, is ended, The darkness falls at Thy behest; 

To Thee our morning hymns ascended, Thy praise shall hallow now our rest. 

We thank Thee that Thy Church unsleeping, While earth rolls onward into light,

Through all the world her watch is keeping, And rests not now by day or night. 

As o’er each continent and island The dawn leads on another day, 

The voice of prayer is never silent, Nor dies the strain of praise away. 

The sun that bids us rest is waking Our brethren ‘neath the western sky, 

And hour by hour fresh lips are making They wondrous doing heard on high. 

So be it, Lord; Thy throne shall never, Like earth’s proud empires, pass away; 

Thy Kingdom stands, and grows forever, Till all They creatures own Thy sway. 

The Presbyterian Historical Society of the Southwest exists to “stimulate and encourage interest in the collection, preservation, and presentation of the Presbyterian and Reformed heritage” in the Southwest. If you are not a participating member of the Society and would like to become one, the annual dues are $20 per individual and $25 per couple. Annual institutional and church membership dues are $100. Checks may be made out to PHSSW and sent to: 

PHSSW – 5525 Traviston Ct., Austin, TX 78738.