From Ash to Artistic Wonder
By PATRICIA BENOIT | Photos by WES ALBANESE and courtesy of PAUL TIPTON
Editor’s note: Central Texas is home to many historical buildings, so we have decided to open up A Look Inside to not only homes, but other beautiful architecture. In this issue, we hope you enjoy seeing this historic house of worship.
Like a vibrant Phoenix rising from the ashes, First Methodist Church’s unique house of worship opened in 1913 after a disastrous fire.
The former building, erected in 1895, had a spacious box-like auditorium for worship and an adjacent large, open lecture room. On a chilly November 1911 night, everything burned to cinders — the custom oak pews, the towering steeple and the congregation’s optimism for the New Year.
The shocked congregation was numb — except for pastor, the Rev. Robert Pierce Shuler (1880-1965), who quickly envisioned “a still greater temple.” Just two days after the fire, Shuler boldly announced, “From its ashes, by God’s help, will grow as by magic a splendid, modern church.”
The building committee hired the Fort Worth architectural partnership of Marshall R. Sanguinet (1859–1936) and Carl G. Staats (1871–1928). Noted for their art deco design, they followed a growing trend in church building design: a semi-circular auditorium and balcony. This curved design allowed the congregation to encircle the pulpit, chancel and choir, as if everyone could be in holy conversation.
First Methodist’s ecclesiastical design broke unwritten 19th century rules of how church buildings should look. Completed in October 1913, its stylized motifs and semi-circular sanctuary looked like no other in Central Texas. The sanctuary is eclectic with allusions of Lombard Romanesque and Spanish mission. The red-tile roofs remind passersby of the Santa Fe Depot, just a few blocks away. Herring-bone brick work highlighted the expansive windows.
This was certainly a worship space built for a new century and a growing city.
The 1913 landmark transformed the character and image of Temple, and created an artistic wonder and a cultural center for future generations.
If you know of an interesting Bell County home or building Tex Appeal readers would like to look inside, email editor@texappealmag.com.
