A family of Global Methodist Churches in Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas
In a word, TRINITY represents for us what we are experiencing together as a Conference — the presence of God and a freshness of the Holy Spirit moving in us as Christ’s witnesses to the world in a new era of Methodism.
Our Roots
The roots of the Methodist movement in our region go deep. In 1837 the first Methodist preacher rode into the piney woods of east Texas. Wherever he tied up his horse, he stood before the people there and proclaimed a gospel message of love and forgiveness. And then he called people to respond in faith and with a transformed life.
Our History
The first American settlements in the province of Texas were made in three distinct localities. It is in these regions, that we hear of the first activities of the Methodist preacher. Geographically speaking, it was within the bounds of the area of Paris, TX, and around the Nacogdoches and Brenham areas that the first preaching and organization of our Church in this state occurred. The earliest of all these settlements was made in the Red River section, and this is where the first Methodist preaching on Texas soil took place.
The first ordained Methodist minister, and the first Protestant minister, to preach in Texas was William Stevenson, a member of the Tennessee Conference who preached at Pecan Point in what is now Red River County during an exploratory journey in the fall of 1815.
In May, 1833, James P. Stevenson (William Stevenson's son), then serving on the Nachitoches circuit, Louisiana, casually met some Texans in a store at Nachitoches, Louisiana, who invited him to preach in Texas. A large congregation was awaiting the preacher at John Smith’s(in Sabine County where Milam now stands), where he preached without interruption. Col. McMahan, residing some eight or ten miles distant, sent an urgent invitation to the preacher to visit his house and preach on the following Monday, and Stevenson responded, being greeted here by another large congregation. Stevenson thought so well of his reception and of the opportunities in this locality, that before returning to Louisiana he appointed another meeting for the McMahan neighborhood, this time for the 4th of July. At that date he returned and held a three days’ meeting, being assisted by local preachers Alford, McKinney and Matthews. After one more meeting in September, a ‘‘religious society,’’ consisting of forty-eight members, over whom he appointed Col. McMahan as ‘‘class-leader’’ was organized.
We now recognize McMahan's Chapel, the oldest continuing congregation in Texas, was founded as a Methodist society by James Porter Stevenson near San Augustine in 1833.
The word Texas first appears in Methodist appointments in 1834, when the recently constituted Mississippi Conference assigned Henry Stephenson to the Texas Mission, composed of the East Texas area around San Augustine.
More than a Society
The General Conference, which met atBaltimore in May, 1840, set off the Texas Conference, “to include the Republic of Texas except that portion now embraced in the Arkansas Conference.’’ The Bishops designated Bishop Beverly Waugh to visit the Republic and to assemble and organize the first conference.
In Rutersville, Texas, on Thursday, December 24th, and on Christmas Day, Friday, December 25th, the first session of the Texas Conference was opened.
"This was the first time a Conference of Methodist preachers ever assembled in Texas. Our number was, indeed, small, consisting of nine members. There were six probationers, five only of whom were continued. We organized in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, nothing daunted at the fewness of our number, remembering, as we could but do, the first conference of our venerable founder about one hundred years ago, when the immortal Wesley and nine others convened to converse of the deep things of God; and also the first annual conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church which convened on Christmas Day, fifty-six years ago, at which time the Church received her present organization."
- Bishop Beverly Waugh
It was a welcome change for the preachers in Texas in the conference season of 1840 to be spared the long and toilsome journey into another state in order to attend conference. One hundred years and a few months following the organization of the first distinct Methodist society in London,’the Texas Conference was organized—a fact which the little band at Rutersville could but reflect upon, with rejoicing over the past and abundant hope for the future. And the rapidity with which the work had advanced in Texas it is worth while to recall—a Texas mission circuit first officially appearing in the records in 1837; a Texas district in 1838; two districts in 1839, and an Annual Conference in 1840.
Developing Conferences
What happens next is a rapid development of the expansion of the Methodist Church in Texas.
From 1844 until 1858 texas contained two annual conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South: East Texas Conference & Texas Conference.
In 1858 East Texas Conf. and Texas Conf. added the Rio Grande Mission Conf.. In 1866 The Rio Grande Conf. was renamed The West Texas Conf.. In 1867 The East Texas Conf. was split to add the Trinity Conf.(later called the North Texas Conf. in 1874) while the Texas Conf. was also split to form the Northwest Texas Conf.. Finally, in 1894, it's easternmost counties were transferred to the Texas Conf..
In 1902 The Texas and East Texas Conf. were combined into a new conference that kept the name Texas Conference. There would be one more major shift, in 1910, the creation of the Central Texas Conf. from the southern region of the North Texas Conf..
Come On Back, 1939
Several schisms occurred in the church, although none was caused by doctrinal differences. The first serious split was in 1830. The dispute centered about the issue of lay representation in the church governing body, and reflected the general desire of the reformers to establish a broader base in church administration by limiting episcopal power. The controversy resulted in the formation of the Methodist Protestant Church.
The separation of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, took place in May 1845 at a meeting in Louisville, Kentucky, called by southern church leaders. The division materialized in general over the increasingly bitter issue of slavery and specifically over the suspension of a slave-holding bishop who was not acceptable to northern Methodists. The 460,000-member Methodist Episcopal Church, South, retained the same doctrines and discipline as the parent Methodist Episcopal Church; however, at its first general conference following the Civil War, it adopted the position of the Methodist Protestant Church in allowing both lay and clerical representation at its general and annual conferences.
The Methodist Church Merger, which became effective on May 10, 1939, marked a significant unification of three major Methodist denominations: the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Methodist Episcopal Church (South), and the Methodist Protestant Church. The merger aimed to reconcile past splits that arose from issues of church governance rather than doctrinal differences, emphasizing a shared faith among the congregations.
The Uniting Conference, 1968
The movement toward reunifying American Methodists in 1968 began early in the twentieth century with two significant mergers, the first taking place in 1939. In 1946 the United Brethren in Christ reunited with the Evangelical Church to form the Evangelical United Brethren Church, this was the beginning of the second. In 1956 the two congregations began negotiations that would culminate in the 1968 formation of the UMC.
This historic event also marked the end of the racially segregated Central Jurisdiction within the Methodist Church, a significant move towards racial integration that had been building momentum since the 1950s.
The United Methodist Church (UMC) was established on April 23, 1968, in Dallas, Texas, through the internal union of Black and White Methodists and the external union of two Wesleyan bodies, the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church (EUBC). The Protestant Methodist movement initiated by John Wesley in England was finally together again.
This was to be the end of division and separation, however, as it turns out, it would be a short-lived celebration. Both links below, Navigating The Waters and Crossing The Divide were posts written to address what wold come next.
Formation
The Eastern Texas Provisional Conference was formed in August of 2022, less than six months following the inception of the Global Methodist Church(GMC) on May 1, 2022. On December 3, 2022, at a Called Session of The Annual Conference, 294 congregations of the Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church disaffiliated from the United Methodist Church, effective January 1, 2023. Then, in College Station, Texas this new provisional annual conference met from February 2-4, 2023 to ordain 90 clergy and welcome 254 Global Methodist congregations in its region.
By this time, the Eastern Texas Conference had grown to include clergy and churches wanting to come to the GMC from the state of Louisiana. When the First Annual Conference for the Eastern Texas Conference was held on July 20-22 of that same year, at Christ Church Methodist in College Station, it also included 94 churches from the state of Arkansas as well. 70 clergy were ordained, and another 71 were received by transferring into the ETX Conference.
One year later, in December of 2023, the Conference changed its name(effective January 1, 2024) to Trinity as a reflection of the Triune God working in our midst and to include participation of local churches throughout Louisiana and Arkansas.
Today
Today the Trinity Conference of the Global Methodist Church is a Holy Spirit movement reviving that timeless Methodist spirit for the twenty first century. We’re sending out church planters like modern circuit riders into cities, towns, and suburbs throughout our region. We’re preaching the gospel with a Wesleyan heart even more boldly than ever. And everywhere we’re pursuing holy lives of faith-filled obedience — throughout Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas. New congregations are joining us every week. Praise God!