Center Point Christian Church

The Disciples of the church's era built schools as well as congregations. Under the denomination's auspices, directly or indirectly, Texas had Carlton College, Carr-Burdette, Randolph College at Lancaster and at Cisco, Hereford College, Midland Christian College, Bay View, Patroon, Mount Enterprise, Burnetta, and the Add-Ran schools that became Texas Christian University, along with Jarvis Christian College. By 1949 all had closed or been absorbed except Jarvis and TCU. The Disciples also ran the Juliette Fowler Homes in Dallas, and Texas Disciples joined ecumenical work through the Texas Conference of Churches.

What the plaque says

Center Point Christian Church The Center Point Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) has been a part of the community and surrounding area for more than 135 years. The church was founded by traveling Kentucky Minister Green L. Surber in 1879. His parents, Adam and Jemima Surber, had moved to Center Point and both died here, giving a probable reason for Green to come. He also felt the need to preach and strengthen the faith of the growing community as part of a campaign to revive Texas spirituality. He preached, conducted weddings, and represented the area in the 1883 southwestern Christian Association in San Antonio. The first church building burned down in 1888 but was rebuilt at its present site in 1892. Funds came from the community and materials came from San Antonio and Kerrville. Many succeeding pastors served in both Center Point and Kerrville. In the 1920s, the congregation under Pastor Perry Hawkins joined several citizens to establish the Southwest Texas Christian Church encampment, also known as "Camp Christian." Situated on the Guadalupe River, the camp also leased out its facilities to camp young Judaea, a Jewish summer camp program, in the 1950s and 1960s, and to the Muscular Dystrophy Association in the 1970s. The property was sold in 1988. since its establishment the church has had more than twenty pastors. The church has served as a place for the local congregation to meet and provide community outreach and revival meetings. As the town of Center Point has grown and changed, the church and its members have continued to serve their neighbors and their community. (2015)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Treue der Union Monument — 7.5 mi
  An 1866 German-language monument in Comfort over the graves of Hill Country Unionists killed at the Nueces in 1862, its flag of thirty-six stars kept at half-staff.
• Schreiner Mansion — 9.5 mi
  The 1879 downtown home of Charles Schreiner, the Alsatian-born merchant, banker and rancher whose store and mohair trade built Kerrville.
• Frontier Times Museum — 15 mi
  A museum built of fossils, petrified wood and cave formations in Bandera, holding a printer-historian's collection of frontier relics and oddities.
• Old Tunnel State Park — 17 mi
  A railroad tunnel abandoned in 1942 that now shelters up to three million Mexican free-tailed bats, who fly out each evening from May through October.

More markers nearby

• Center Point United Methodist Church — steps away
• Center Point School — steps away
• Rising Star Lodge No. 429, A.F. & A.M. — 0.3 mi
• Mosty Brothers Nursery — 0.4 mi