Grayson County TXGenWeb

Morning Chapel CME Church
Van Alstyne, Texas

Morning Chapel CME Church honors the past and looks forward to the future -

The old weather beaten wood frame church on Bowen Road has withstood more than chipped paint, broken windows and frozen plumbing.  It has lived through an era of slavery, discrimination and even today's church burning in the 1990s. 

Morning Chapel's Christian Methodist Episcopal Church was formed in the late 1800s out of the dedication and sacrifice of slaves who worshiped in barns with only a candle to see.  In the midst of the struggles and adversity they went on to form three churches in the new colored community of Van Alstyne, the Samaria Baptist Church, the Church of Christ and Morning Chapel CME Church on Bowen Rd.  All three churches still stand and serve as the spiritual backbone of this very close knit black community in Van Alstyne. On February 16, 1997, Morning Chapel will celebrate 113 years of service by honoring one of the forerunners of the CME church, Bishop John Wesley McKinney.  Bishop McKinney was a direct descendant of the slaves that came over with Mr. Collin McKinney and his family from Mantua in 1846.
   
John Wesley McKinney, the 16th Bishop elected in the colored Methodist Episcopal Church, was born in Van Alstyne, Texas in 1871.  He was a graduate of Prairie View College in 1877.  He joined the church in 1877 and began preaching in 1888.  He pastured many of the changes, was presiding elder for years and served the church as Secretary of the Church Extension.  Most of his work was done in the West Texas Conference.  For more than 50 years he was Grand Master of the Masonic Lodge.  He was elected to the highest office of the church in May 1922, in St. Louis, Missouri.  He retired during the General Conference in Chicago in May of 1942 after serving the church as Bishop for 20 years.  He died August, 28, 1946 and was buried in Sherman, Texas.

Rev. Fred L. Jones, Pastor of Morning Chapel CME, would like to invite you to come and share in this historical moment.  Bishop Marshall Gilmore, Presiding Prelate of the Eighth Episcopal district of the CME Church, will bring the message for the day.  The Honorable Mayor Teddy Ann Salmon will be presenting a proclamation to Bishop Gilmore declaring February 16 Bishop John W. McKinney Day.  "We should look back not to stay back, but to look back to move forward," said Rev. Fred L. Jones.

SOURCE : Genealogy Section, Newspaper Clippings, Van Alstyne Public Library, Van Alstyne, Texas.
 



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