Shiner, Lavaca County
The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, of Shiner, Texas, was organized on November 1, 1887, in the office of L. P. Amsler, Shiner's first mayor. The Rev. C. C. Armstrong presided over the first service. In 1889 local rancher David Kokernot donated a small building to the community which was relocated to a town lot deeded to the church by the Shiner Townsite Company. The upper floor of the building housed a Masonic Lodge and the ground floor was used for services of the Methodist congregation. Eliza Amsler Welhausen formed a Sunday school in 1890. The original Masonic Lodge/church building was relocated and a new sanctuary was erected in 1914. The congregation began as a mission church and continued to be served by circuit preachers on a part-time basis until 1950 when a full-time pastor was appointed. By that time the congregation had formed a Vacation Bible School and a women's society. In 1954 the congregation was recognized as the outstanding rural church of the Southwest Methodist Conference. A new three-level complex, built here in 1961 on 6.4 acres donated by the Welhausen Land and Cattle Company, represents the congregation's three distinct fields of activity: worship, education, and fellowship. Sesquicentennial of Texas Statehood 1845-1995