Our History

Bethel’s history is part of the larger histories of Presbyterianism in the United States and in Texas.  Our congregation has been served by many pastors over our 180-year history.

“The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America began work in Texas when Peter H. Fullenwider, an Old School minister of that communion, moved to Stephen F. Austin‘s colony in 1834 to teach and do religious work. In 1838 Hugh Wilson organized the first Old School church near San Augustine. In 1840 the Brazos Presbytery of the Old School was organized near Washington-on-the-Brazos. In 1851 the Synod of Texas, Old School, was organized at Austin with three presbyteries [. . . .] In 1861 Texas Presbyterians, Old and New School, joined with other Presbyterian churches in the South in organizing the Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States of America. In 1865 the majority of Presbyterian congregations in Texas affiliated with the Presbyterian Church U.S. (Southern).” (John R. “Pete” Hendrick, “Presbyterian Church,” Texas State Historical Association)

On June 13th, 1840, the Rev. William Y. Allen, at the request of ten people in (West) Columbia, organized the Presbyterian Church at Columbia.  Allen was sent from the Synod of Mississippi to the Republic of Texas as a foreign missionary.  While Presbyterian congregations had been organized in Texas earlier than ours, Bethel is currently the oldest continuing PC(USA) Presbyterian congregation in Texas, and one of the oldest Protestant congregations in Texas.  (Prior to independence from Mexico, Protestant churches were not allowed in Texas.)

One of the early, prominent members of Bethel was Mary Bell (1799-1856), widow of Josiah H. Bell (1791-1838), the founder of East and West Columbia.  The Bells were among Stephen F. Austin’s three hundred original settlers.

The congregation worshiped for a time in one of the old capitol buildings in West Columbia.  In 1852, with healthy finances and 43 members, a church was built on land given by Mary Bell, adjacent to what is, today the old West Columbia cemetery.  By some accounts, the building was destroyed by fire in 1870, though the memory of now-deceased members of the church had it that the structure was blown down in the August, 1932, Freeport Hurricane.

By 1880 or so, many of the 53 members of the church lived in East Columbia.  While the church’s finances were not nearly as strong as they had been before the Civil War, a new church building was built in East Columbia, on Main Street.  That building was damaged by the Great Storm of 1900 (a category 4 hurricane that struck in early September); the building was soon repaired, but, like the 1852 structure, was destroyed in the 1932 storm.  We then purchased our current building, also on Main Street, which had been built in 1913 as the Armstrong Memorial Methodist Church.

A classroom and fellowship addition was built in the 1950s and remodeled in the 1980s.  Our current fellowship hall, Bethel Hall, was built in the 2000s.