L aurel Heights United Methodist Church was founded in San Antonio, Texas on November 28, 1909. It grew from a need to establish a church within the new development of Monte Vista through the foresight of Mrs. J. O. Terrell, wife of Judge Terrell of San Antonio. The City Mission Board and Church Extension Society of San Antonio, the predecessor of the present Mission Board of San Antonio, purchased the northeast corner of West Woodlawn and Belknap Place. J. D. Young was selected as the first pastor of the church and very soon he was known affectionately to all as "Jim Dandy" Young. Meetings were initially held in a frame structure known as "The Tabernacle". Progress of the Church can best be followed by quoting extracts from the Pastor's report at the First Quarterly Conference held January 24,1910:
... Located as we are, with a wide open field, we feel safe in saying that the future holds to us the possibilities of one of the greatest Churches in our Methodism. With faith in God, and determination on our part, we expect to come into possession of our Kingdom in due time. We have organized a Sunday School. Beginning eight weeks ago with nothing, we now have about 200 on roll and at the last service we had present 157.
... As evidence of the wide-open field for the church, we have received only about 78 members from the other churches of the city, the other 122 coming from the outside.
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... The personnel of the congregation is all any one could ask and at the same time it seems that the entire congregation is possessed with a spirit of enthusiasm and hopefulness seldom seen in church work.
The Building Committee realized that a church building worthy of the neighborhood was a necessity if increased membership was to be attained. The fact that only a few accessions were made each quarter caused them no discouragement. The budget for the first year was $7,750 and the membership was 225.
On October 18, 1910, the Mission Board conveyed the property to the Board of Trustees and a charter to incorporate the Church was applied for later. The pastor moved the first shovel of dirt on May 1, 1911, and Bishop E. D. Mouzon laid the corner stone June 23, 1911. Construction was completed, and the Church was ready for the service on Easter Sunday, 1912, with Bishop S. Key preaching the sermon. The architect was Atlee B. Ayres, noted San Antonio architect, and the contractor Jack Haynes.
During the first decade when the Church property was being developed, the other activities of the Church were making satisfactory progress. The Woman's Missionary Society was organized on November 28, 1909 with eight members and soon grew, the name having been changed to Woman's Society of Christian Service in 1940, then again in 1973 to United Methodist Women. The Society also served as the founder of Wesley House in 1911. The Epworth League was organized in 1912 with 25 members. The Sunday School enrollment increased from 250 in 1911, to 405 in 1913, and 568 in 1917.
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