(This painting shows the original First Methodist Church building in Iraan)
The recorded history of the Iraan church begins with a Quarterly Conference called in August 1928 for the purpose of selecting a church building site. Prior to this time it is known that Sunday School services were being conducted in the Red Barn School House. The deed to the church property was from the Ira Yates estate and is dated September 23, 1929.
The First United Methodist Church in Iraan was formally organized in October 1929. Originally a part of the New Mexico-Oklahoma Conference, First UMC is now a member of the Southwest Texas conference.
The original church was a small building that served as a community center for worship for several denominations in the small oilfield settlement that later was to become the city of Iraan. Eventually, the various sects branched out forming their own congregations.
The Rev. J. E. Evans, from Rankin, was the first pastor (1927-28) and came two Sundays each month. In October 1929, the small band of 105 members was accepted into the New Mexico-Oklahoma Conference with the Rev. C. C. Higbee the first appointed pastor. Thirty-one pastors have followed in their footsteps. Their names and years they served in Iraan are found on this page.
In 1937, the Rev. Melvin Rankin raised the money to buy the property acroos the street from the church for a parsonage. The property was bought from Miss Oelina Bizet. The parsonage was built for the sum of $12,500 and renovated in 1964 for an additional $5,600.
The original church building plus some additions remained through the years. Added to the original structure that served as the sanctuary was the "hospital building" which was made into classrooms and a parsonage. Another building was bought in the forties and tacked on to serve as a youth education section and a church kitchen.
Ground-breaking services for a new Iraan Methodist Church building took place in March 1953. One speaker said, "This building, when completed, will be adequete to meet the needs of the congregation and its beauty will inspire Divine Worship." Following three years of fund raising, prayer, and volunteer labor - and mistakes - the dream came true and with all debts cleared, time for rejoicing, and a date for Dedication Sunday was set for January 8, 1956. Cost of the renovations was estimated at $18,00 but as much of the work was done by local labor, there was a cut in cost. In the 1965 records, the value of the church was set at $50,000. 252 members were on the church roll at that time.
More history will be added in the coming weeks.
(the photo shown below shows the groundbreaking ceremony in 1953.)
The painting shown here hangs in the sanctuary above the communion table. The picture of the cross on the hill by the artist Carl Phillips was placed in the church in 1943 during the pastorate of the Rev. William M. Justice. The former Iraan pastor gave an account of the painting during a visit in May 1976.
According to his account, Rev. Justice first saw the painting done by Phillips hanging in the Concord Avenue Methodist Church in Waco, Texas during the time Rev. Justice was pastor at First Methodist Church in Hewitt, Texas. He was so impressed with the painting he asked the artist to paint a like picture for his church.
After Rev. Justice moved to Iraan in 1942, a Mrs. Watkins expressed a desire to do something for the church. Remembering the painting, he suggested the artist be contacted to do one for this church. Mr. Phillips agreed, and he was paid $45 by Mrs. Watkins.
The artist paid a visit to the church in Iraan in 1961 for a view of his painting in its present setting.