By 1835 Texans were involved in the revolt that would lead the following year to the decisive Battle of San Jacinto and their independence from Mexico.  That same year the General Convention of the Episcopal Church met in Philadelphia and made provisions for sending bishops to aid struggling congregations by founding parishes and directing missionaries in foreign lands.

     During the decade 1836-1846, that Texas remained a Republic, both the young church and the young country struggled to survive.  Not only were their treasuries bare but also numerous other obstacles had to be overcome.  Travel was only as fast as horses legs could be made to move; communication was difficult; the climate was hard on newcomers; and disease, wild animals, and hostile Indian tribes took their toll.  Money to support parishes was so hard to raise that the early priests were forced to spend much of their time and energy scraping up funds in order to keep going.

     One of the first Episcopal priests to arrive in the new Republic of Texas was the Rev. Richard S. Salmon.  Although his credentials were excellent, the Convention refrained from officially sponsoring him because of his intimate and direct connection with a land company.  Actually, Salmon's plan was to form a group of Episcopalians into a colony which he would take to Texas.  Despite the fact that his land grant proved worthless and despite continued lack of support by the Missionary Society, Salmon was the first Episcopal priest to minister canonically and regularly in Texas.

     Other Episcopal clergymen who came to the Republic on their own also urged the sending of missionaries, but the Foreign Committee of the Missionary Society was slow in activating the Texas mission.  The primary reason was that the Society was financially destitute, and a financial panic in the United States made prospects of increased support extremely doubtful.  Eventually the Society did appoint the Rev. Caleb S. Ives the first foreign missionary to the Republic of Texas, and 1839 he organized Christ Church in Matagorda Bay, the Mother Church of the Diocese of Texas.

     Annexation to the United States in 1846 brought an influx of pioneers to the new state.  As quickly as the population justified it, new counties were laid out.  East central Texas with its wooded streams and black land soil attracted a sufficient number of immigrants so that in 1850 a new county was created in the area.  Noting that the Leon and Lampasas Rivers and Salado Creek came together at Three Forks to form the Little River, the original petition for a county suggested it be named Clear Water.  In the final petition, however, the name was changed to Bell in honor of Peter Hansborough Bell, the newly elected governor of Texas.

     The small settlement of Nolan Springs was chosen to be the county seat.  The town was duly laid out and named Nolanville after Philip Nolan, a young Irish adventurer and filibuster.  In 1852 the town was incorporated by the Texas legislature, and the name was officially changed to Belton, a contraction of the words Bell and town. The little village of Belton was growing steadily.  In 1854 Col. Hermon Aiken raised a subscription among people of all creeds, and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church was erected where all denominations took turns holding worship services.

     On the eve of the Civil War, the Diocese of Texas was in dire need of a Bishop who could meet the challenge of organizing the widely scattered Episcopalians who had settled within the boundaries of the evolving state.  They were fortunate to find such a man in Alexander Gregg.

     Within a month after moving with his family to Austin in 1859, he began visiting his scattered flock.  His visit to Belton, where he held services, was no doubt a major encouragement to the Episcopalians living there.  By the next year they had been organized into a mission congregation. Bishop Gregg put the Episcopal missions at Cameron and Belton under the charge of the Rev. Rucker.  He held services in Belton on a monthly basis.

     In 1863 at the Fourteenth Annual Convention in Texas, the Committee on New Parishes reported that St. Luke's Church, Belton was a regularly organized and recommended its admission into union with the Council.  The report was adopted, and although they as yet had no church building, the Belton congregation was admitted to the roll of Parishes of Episcopal Churches in Texas.  In 1867 the Rev. Rucker accepted a position closer to his home in Burleson County and St. Luke's Church was again without a pastor.  For the next five years the faithful few held together with only a layreader and a visiting deacon to lead their services.

     Appeals for aid in completing the church resulted in contributions from Galveston, Houston, Waco, Navasota and Bryan congregations.  By October 1874 when the Bishop Gregg visited Belton, he found the church building nearing completion.  Upon the completion of the church building, the Rev. Patrick moved to Belton to become its first full time minister.  Then on April 18, 1875 the Bishop Gregg consecrated St. Luke's Church, Belton.  In 1877 the Rev. Patrick left the area to minister to other parishes and the next twelve years were years of struggle for St. Luke's.  Services were conducted by visiting priests and deacons or by layreaders.

     Even though there was instability at St. Luke's, on April 18, 1882 the Thirty third Council of the Diocese of Texas was held at St. Luke's on the seventh anniversary of its consecration. An old newspaper clipping gives the program.  Bishop George Herbert Kinsolving, who was to become Bishop Gregg’s successor, was present.

     Baylor University, the famous Baptist School, was established at Independence in 1845, during the days of the Republic of Texas.  In 1851 the female department was separated, and when it was decided to move the schools to a more central location, many towns competed for them.  Baylor University was consolidated with Waco University, and the female college moved to Belton. The laying of the cornerstone of Baylor Female College was on April 21, 1885.  In the years to come St. Luke's would assume the duty of ministering to the Episcopal students who attended the college.

     The Rev. Duncan came to St. Luke's in 1889 and stayed until1894 then returned in1900 and passed away in 1907.  He had the longest tenure at St. Luke's.  Following Rev. Duncan's passing over the next seven years there is a list of clergymen who stayed one year each.

     In 1920, the old Easton home on Ninth Avenue was bought by the Diocese for a rectory, and an Episcopal student dormitory named St. Mary's Hall.  The house was a rambling three story, so there was ample room for the Reverend W. E. Phillips and family to occupy a part of the first floor. The Diocese helped furnish the upstairs for a female dormitory and the house mother Mrs. Alice Chamberlin, who was an active member of St. Luke's.  Things went well for approximately four years, but the number of Episcopal students at the college fell off until it was not feasible to operate the dormitory.  The house was too large for a rectory and eventually had to be sold.

     A frame room was built on the south side of the church in 1922 where the bell tower now stands.  This would be the first addition to the church.   The room had windows on three sides, an outside entrance and one into the chancel.  A closet for the priest's vestments was at long last provided.

     In 1928 Church disbursements state the first gas heaters were bought for thirty dollars.  Until then the church had been heated by a cast iron, coal burning stove.  Those familiar with that era remember pews near the stove had to be moved away from the heat, while people sitting at a distance were uncomfortably cold.  The fire had to be started early enough in the morning to warm the church and in the middle of the sermon the fire had to be tended so services were stopped to take care of the stove.

     In October of 1947, Everett "Cap" H. Smith, Layreader-in-Charge, was sent to St. Luke's by the Bishop Hines to do what he could for the church while carrying on his full-time teaching work at the University of Texas.   One of the material things Cap thought would add meaning to the service was our old bell.  The bell had not been used for some years as it was on the ground.  Having discussed a number of plans to raise it, a decision was made to build the present bell tower.  The bell tower was designed by T.R. Matthews.  Mrs. Carrie Bloomer Guffy donated the native stone from a fence on her farm for this project.  The bell tower envisioned by Everett H. Smith would not be erected until 1949, after his tenure at St. Luke's.  The tower was erected at the south end entrance of the church.  The old bell was raised where it could swing freely and be seen and heard for blocks around.

     In the year 1953, the Rev. Grant A. Herbst arrived at St. Luke's to find the church heavily in debt.   A letter from the Bishop's Committee dated December 19, 1953 tells the congregation, we are writing to tell you of a very serious situation St. Luke's is facing . . . . . next year's future looks even darker.  Because of the rising cost of living the budget will have to be raised.  The letter ended with this dire prediction, St. Luke's may die!   The Holy Spirit must have worked in the hearts of the hard-pressed congregation, for in two years they raised enough money to build the present parish house addition.   Rugely Matthews designed and drew the plans, and it is to his credit that this addition, which included the Vicar's office, sacristy, four classrooms, kitchen, two restrooms, and a 24 X 36 foot parish hall, connected by a covered walkway, blended so well with the old church that it seemed an integral part.

     As the years progressed, additional changes were made to the church.  Adaptive changes such as air-conditioning units were acquired in 1956 to cool the church.  In 1958, a platform was built at the pulpit to accommodate Rev. Alfred Johnson's height.

     The Rev. J. Frederick Patten became Vicar over St. Luke's in 1967 and moved his family to the Belton area.  Due to a prolonged drought, the stones over the front door of the old church had begun to buckle.  Rev. Patten later confessed he prayed every Sunday at noon that the Lord would keep the stones from falling as he stood outside the door shaking hands with the departing congregation.  It was obvious to everyone that something needed to be done, and soon!

     Consultations were held with stone masons, structural engineers, and architects.  It was concluded that the church must be vacated for the safety of the congregation.  We felt like the Israelites of old as our alter was carried out of the church to be put down in another setting for another place of worship.  A number of soul searching meetings were held to discuss the feasibility of repairing or rebuilding the old church, which had no foundation at all.  This was at the root of most of the trouble.  It was felt then that even if a way could be found to repair the church to future use, there was a need for expansion of all facilities and no available space to make them.  A building committee was formed, and a building program was established to raise money for a new church.  Construction started in October of 1968 and was completed in April, 1969.  Leaving the old, vine covered church when the time came for the final move was a heart-tugging experience.  Memories crowded in from over the years baptisms, confirmations, weddings, and funerals were recalled.  The saddest service of all on leaving the church was that of deconsecration.

     Although they had moved out of the old church and it had been deconsecrated, it was still loved.  So it was hard to even consider selling it.  A number of sales were turned down that would have entailed tearing down the old church.  Consequently, members were pleased when the Bell Fine Arts Association was chosen as a buyer in 1971.  The offer amounted to $3,000.00 which the Bishop's Committee considered more than fair, considering the condition of the property and the relatively small size of the lot.

     On February 7, 1974, the Belton Journal published an article headed, Old Church Placed on National List, it reads in part: Almost two years of work was rewarded when the old St. Luke's Episcopal Church building, owned for the past three years by the Bell Fine Arts Association, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.  Announcement of the designation of the national rating was made this week by Mrs. Delbert Bryan, BFAA President.  The Historic St. Luke's Church was the first building in Belton, and the second in Bell County, to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

     The original building is a simple rectangle measuring 27’6” x 39’6” with two gables on the shorter walls of the rectangle.  At the west end of the rectangle, there is a bump-out measuring 9’7.5” x 14’2”.  The exterior walls are 13’1”.  All walls are constructed of rough-cut fieldstone, double walled with the space between the walls filled with rubber.  Mortaring agent was mud-and-wattle (mud, lime and animal hair and/or straw).  The original roof was probably cedar planks, cedar boards, or a broad split cedar shingle.  The bell tower was built later.  The few claims to architectural styling are in the gothic Arches of the windows, the double door entrance and the boxed cornices.  Rough cut cedar studs were installed over the interior walls, with 1”x12” pine boards placed horizontally.  The original flooring is pine, pier and beam.

Home | History | In the News | Photos| Contact Us