Staff report
The Buda United Methodist Church is celebrating its 140th anniversary , and the Hays County Commissioners court honored that wlth a proclamation honoring its long history of worship and service to the community.
According to the proclamation, the precursor of the current church was the first organized in the new settlement of DuPre (now called Buda). Thomas Garrett is recognized as its first pastor in 1880.
Two years later, city block was purchased for the first church building, and among the first activities there was the wedding of Professor J.W. McLaughlin and Miss Maggie Barton and Bob Carter N Miss Ida Criser on Christmas D in 1892. Around the same time, a Sunday School was organized with Bob Barton serving as the first superintendent.
The church prospered, and by the 1920s ha formed a Women’s Missionary Society that brought food and clothing to needy families as well as working with the Methodist Orphanage and assisting the community in other ways.
Today the church has a congregation of more than 47 and supports Men’s and Women’s groups, Sunday School, the Buda Food Pantry and works with nonprofits including CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates, the Hays Caldwell Women’s Center and the Hays County Food Bank
WHEREAS, today’s congregation of over 475 members and worshipers includes: a Men’s Group; an active Women’s Group; adult and children’s Sunday school; Buda Food Pantry that serves seniors, disabled individuals, families without transportation and quarantined households, approximately 1,200 clients per month; and extends its service by supporting benevolence projects with area non-profit organizations such as Court Appointed Special Advocates, the Hays-Caldwell Women’s Center and the Hays County Food Bank.
