Wimberley Presbyterian Church

Chartered in 1991, Wimberley Presbyterian Church celebrated its sixteenth birthday this year.  In 1999, one of the charter members of the church, Ken Allison, wrote down his reflections on the process of forming our church through its chartering.  What follows is the bulk of that reflection, which makes for interesting, and often amusing, reading. 

In his preface, Ken suggested that someone else pick up the mantle and chronicle the events from 1991 forward.  To date, 16 years later, we are still waiting on our next historian.

The genesis of the Wimberley Presbyterian Church makes an interesting story. Those few of us who were there at the beginning and still worship at the church often remarked that someone should write a history of our church before there is no one left who was there during those exciting early days. The undertaking was encouraged by Carol Clark, and, without any talent for this sort of thing, I was finally persuaded to take it on. This, then, is the result, the story of the Presbyterian Fellowship that led to the formal organization of the Wimberley Presbyterian Church on March 10, 1991. It is not a history. A history requires analysis and interpretation. I have neither the inclination nor the qualification to write history. This is just a story. I have taken some liberties with the way the story is told particularly where I have used direct quotes of the players, but on the whole I have tried to present an accurate picture of the events which were a very important part of my life.
It is presumptuous of me to think that my amateurish effort is worthy of a dedication. Therefore, I will not do that. However, if someone were to ask me if there were some who played a predominate role in finally getting a Presbyterian Church in Wimberley, the two names that come to mind immediately are Dottie Sweeton and Jim Winn. I can say that without the continuing efforts of those two, throughout the long gestation period of the Fellowship, the organized Wimberley Presbyterian Church might have been delayed many months or even years. I would like to thank them, too, for their help in gathering the information for this story, and I thank our Pastor for her encouragement and advice, Mary Northern for editing the manuscript, and those perfect strangers in Lockhart, Kovar, and Mission Presbytery with whom I visited, and Heinrich Eiler, who is no stranger, with whom I visited in Arkansas, and Russ Hull who helped me with the word processor. All the typographical errors are my errors. I dont spel too good eether.

Finally, I would hope that one of the newer and younger members of the congregation would continue this yarn from March 10, 1991, onward.

Ken Allison
October, 1999 

On September 7th, 1989, an inconspicuous notice appeared in the Wimberley View:

Presbyterian Fellowship

Presbyterians will hold a fellowship meeting in the Cypress
Creek Cafe, Sunday at 3 PM.

There were several Wimberley folks at that meeting, some from Mission Presbytery, and one from Shepherd of the Hills Presbyterian Church in Austin. They met in the bar of the cafe on that hot and humid Sunday afternoon. Little was actually accomplished, but it gave the participants a chance to get acquainted and call for another meeting. This meeting was the beginning of earnest planning for a Presbyterian Fellowship which would lead, inexorably, to the organization of the Wimberley Presbyterian Church and its outstanding success and prosperity as well as the resulting benefit to the community. However, the seed for the birth of organized Presbyterianism in Wimberley was planted many months before and the roots nourished by a small cadre of individuals until ready to burst forth and bloom in full splendor.

In 1975 there were four churches in Wimberley: a Baptist church, a Catholic church, a Christian church, and the Chapel in the Hills. By 1986 as a result of good times and phenomenal growth in the area, there were an additional six churches: Church of Christ, The Lutheran Church of the Resurrection, Trinity Chapel, St. Stephens Episcopal church, Wimberley United Methodist church, and a second Baptist church. But there was still no Presbyterian church. Although one could surmise that many Presbyterians in the area longed for a church of their own and only reluctantly settled for the Chapel, the first recorded mention of the possibility of establishing such a church occurred in that same year of 1986.

Things were not going well at the Chapel. Many of the Methodists, the Episcopalians, and the Lutherans had pulled out. There was some serious discord within the congregation, and the pastor was nearing retirement. The Presbyterians were the only mainline denomination without a church of their own. The time seemed ripe to organize a Presbyterian Church.

The Reverend Heinrich B. Eiler, an articulate and forceful leader, was at that time Associate General Presbyter of Mission Presbytery responsible for new church development. He was being assisted by two lay members of the Church, Bill Clement and Minta McIntosh. Minta was responsible for the Austin cluster of churches which generally included the churches west of I-35. Bill was concerned with churches east of I-35.

Jim Winn was a prosperous business man in the village in the spring of 1986. Bea Patterson was his office manager and bookkeeper, while Don Patterson did a substantial part of his loafing around the Winn Building. One day Jim remarked to Don that Wimberley should have a Presbyterian church. Don agreed, and that was the end of the conversation. It was a surprising remark, because Jim had been an active member of the Chapel all his life and had no intention of changing his loyalty.  And he certainly had no intention of becoming one of the prime advocates for a new church.

Bill Clement is a retired business man from Houston and long-time Presbyterian lay leader now living in the Thunderbird retirement community near Smithfield. Since retirement he has performed volunteer duties with Mission Presbytery as a cluster leader. The small churches in Mission Presbytery are organized into geographically proximate areas for certain administrative functions, not the least of which is small church development. Bill has the responsibility for several churches in central Texas east of I-35. In addition he has a strong Wimberley connection. Bill Clement is a life-long friend of Jim Winn, and, as Jim says, somehow kin to him. Furthermore, he, Bill, was a very close friend of Dottie Sweeton's father and had known Dottie all her life. Dottie and Jim had not known each other back in Wimberley until they were brought together in the new church movement. Was this God's work that brought them together in this little town for such a noble task, or what?

In the fall of 1986 Jim was in Smithfield on business. Naturally, he stopped by to see his old friend Bill Clement in Thunderbird. In due course the conversation got around to the prospects for a Presbyterian church in Wimberley. A vague agreement was made that included two tasks:

(1) Bill would explore the idea with Mission Presbytery, and

(2) Jim would meet with Dottie, and they would determine if there was sufficient interest in the idea among the people in Wimberley.

But it was not until the fall of 1988, that Jim and Dottie got to know each other, got together and compiled a list of Presbyterians they knew or knew of. It was not a very long list, but it included several people still active (1999) in the church. Also most of them worshiped at Chapel in the Hills. In February, 1989, Jim, Dottie, and Bill Clement met with Jack Myrnier, publisher of the Wimberley View, at Willy's Pizza (now the Wimberley Pie Company) in the hope that Jack would assist them in publicizing the news about the proposed new church. He was glad to do so at no cost. Following the notice in the View more than 50 folks contacted Dottie.

Meanwhile, Heinrich was doing his part to encourage Mission Presbytery to support the organizational effort going on in Wimberley. However, Presbytery had, for the past year, been involved with the organization of four small churches, Dripping Springs, Potema, Pipe Creek, and Canyon Lake. Things had not been going well with the four Fellowships, and Presbytery did not relish taking on another Fellowship which at that time seemed to have little chance of making it. Furthermore, some at Presbytery believed that a Wimberley Fellowship would cause a loss of membership at the Chapel and even at the San Marcos Presbyterian Church. This they did not want to happen. As it turned out, there was only a minor defection to the Fellowship, but even this was somewhat resented. Also the main man at Presbytery was planning to retire, and they did not want to take on new projects.
All in all it appeared that the prospects for a Presbyterian Church in Wimberley looked pretty dim. Although much energy had been expended over the past two years in meetings and talk, little had been actually accomplished.

Bill Clement felt that the time had come to either do it or forget it. He called Jim Winn and suggested that the two of them meet with Heinrich Eiler and try to get the project back on track. Heinrich appeared to be the one individual that could overcome Presbytery's disinterest or perceived disinterest. They agreed to meet in the little town of Lockhart on December 9, 1988.

Lockhart (population 7953) is the self-proclaimed barbecue capital of Texas and, to some, the rest of the world., equidistant from Wimberley, Smithfield , and San Antonio and site of the Battle of Plum Creek. What better place to meet than in Lockhart and what better place in Lockhart than Black's Barbecue? There, in December, 1988, at Black's, in a booth in the back room beneath a wall decorated with deer horns, high school football team pictures, and old automobile license plates, the destiny of Wimberley's church was decided. Although the three of them did not pledge to each other their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor, they did promise to give their best effort to get Wimberley a Presbyterian Church. Did they succeed? You bet they did, but it took the best part of a year before the first service at the Wimberley Presbyterian Church was held.   

Presbyterians are often times accused of being over-educated and too-smart-by-half to get anything done without talking about it until it dies a natural death. Although such was not the case with the new church project, the phoning and listing and meeting mode was continued for a few more months. Indeed, it seemed as if everybody involved had a list of folks interested in forming a Wimberley fellowship, lists that overlapped and included people who no longer, or never had, lived in Wimberley. But in due course a consensus was reached among the major players, which, at that time included Heinrich Eiler, Bill Clement, Minta McIntosh, Jim Winn, and Dottie Sweeton, that there were enough seriously interested people on all those lists who would come to a meeting to see if it were feasible to form a Presbyterian Fellowship, which then led to that memorable meeting in the Cypress Creek Cafe club room on that hot and humid Sunday afternoon September 10, 1989.

Dear Dave:

This letter is to remind you of your agreement to rent us your club room for about two hours beginning at 2:30 on Sunday September 10th.

We plan to have an organization meeting for the Wimberley Presbyterian Fellowship. We only have a vague idea as to how many people will attend; it could be around fifty, probably more like twenty five.

It was stated that the rent will be $25.00 in as much as we will not purchase any food or drink. We plan to have two couples host the meeting and furnish any refreshments that are

served.

We do appreciate your generous consideration of our need.

Sincerely,

Heinrich B. Eiler

This letter was to confirm arrangements that had been made earlier by telephone. It is noteworthy
for three reasons:

(1) Nobody had any real idea of how many people would show up,

(2) Like all Presbyterian meetings there had to be refreshments, and

(3) Heinrich and Dave Calkins were already on a first name basis. Meanwhile, Dottie Sweeton and Minta McIntosh were not idle. Dottie had placed a notice in the Wimberley View inviting anyone interested to come to the meeting, and she continued to harass the local population to drum up more prospective Presbyterians. She even admitted to some mild proselytizing. Furthermore, she had a fear that if we had a poor showing of interest at the meeting, Heinrich would withdraw his vigorous support of the undertaking. Without his support it was as dead as a doornail. Now Minta was the project's real paladin throughout the life of the Fellowship. It will be recalled that Minta was the cluster leader for those new churches west of Interstate 35, and Bill Clement the leader for those east of that highway. Bill had gotten involved in Wimberley's new church development only as a result of his Wimberley connection with Dottie and Jim Winn. Now he felt it was time to get out of Minta's way and let her be the leader in the Wimberley project. Although he was no longer the one responsible for the project, he had followed very closely the growth of the new church and had a justifiable pride in its success. Minta took over with a vengeance, collecting money and requesting donations even before the September 10 meeting. One of her "news releases"� is shown on the following page.

The meeting convened in the bar as advertised. Present were Heinrich Eiler, Minta Mc Intosh, Bill Clement, Bobbie Nelson, Jim Winn and the following prospective members of the new fellowship: Ken Allison, Don and Bea Patterson, Norman and Betty Kudla, Bob and Eileen Trapp, Bobbie McShan, Perky Smith, and of course, Dottie Sweeton. The meeting was a get-acquainted affair with some general discussion of the desirability of the Fellowship. Heinrich spelled out the problems and difficulties that might be encountered and introduced Bobbie, an elder in the Shepherd of the Hills, who was to be the contact with the link church. In a letter to the Shepherd of the Hills Minta had spelled out the main duties of the link church: to give session approval each time the Fellowship wants to serve communion, and to provide an elder to serve on the Fellowship steering committee.

The only real accomplishments of this September 10th meeting were the answers to two questions:

(1) Did we really want to continue with this dream? Yes, of course, and

(2) What should we do next? Have another meeting. The answer to this second question was to be expected. And so it came about that another meeting would be held at the Allison farm this time on September 25th. It turned out that this would be the seminal meeting of the entire undertaking.
 

"Curiouser and curiouser"� said Alice to the Hatter. "Those Presbyterians have been trying for two years to get a Presbyterian Church started, and now they think they can do it all in twenty days. I wonder what the March Hare would say."  � Had Alice and her gang hung around a while they would have seen that the Presbyterians were dead serious this time and could, indeed, do it in twenty days.
The group attending the meeting at the Allison's was eager to get started on the grand adventure:

Then there was Heinrich Eiler, there to encourage the group to go for it, and, at the same time, to caution them to show some restraint in their enthusiasm, and Minta McIntosh, there to help in every way that she could and to assure them that she was the the mother of all scroungers, and could somehow find every thing that would be needed. After apple pie and coffee and a little get-to-know-each-other small talk, Heinrich reviewed the progress to date and outlined what lay ahead. Then without further discussion someone suggested that if there was going to be a church the first thing that needed to be done was to have a church service. Someone else said that October 15th was World Communion Sunday. What better day to start a new church?. It was agreed that that's what they would do.

The discussion then revolved around what would be needed and where it would come from. At that point the only asset in hand was a place to hold the first service. Jim Winn had offered his new and vacant office building, The Oaks, as a temporary place to worship. The only things that were lacking now were, (1) a preacher, (2) a pulpit, (3) hymnals, (4) elements for communion and cups, (5) chairs, (6) a table for communion, (7) offering plates, and (8) at least some kind of minimal coffee-serving gear. And, of course, it would be nice if there were a piano or organ and someone to play it.

Not to worry; there were 20 days to put it all together. Minta said she would get ministers for each Sunday until a permanent minister was called and print up the orders of worship for those Sundays. Don Patterson thought that the local VFW would lend chairs and tables for the service as long as it did not interfere with their activities. That is to say, pick 'em up Sunday morning and return 'em Sunday afternoon. Okay. Don and Bob Trapp would be delighted to do that. Everett Anschutz went to Austin quite often. He would get all the stuff for communion. Others volunteered baskets for the offering and coffee-making gear. They were making progress. That about did it for everything except a pulpit and hymnals. And music. By all means music. A church without music is like a ship without a rudder or a boat without a sail. Minta got on the phone. Yes, Westlake Presbyterian Church said they had a bunch of the old red hymnals; come and get them. Ken went and got them. Minta managed to scrounge up a pulpit and communion table from the basement of another church in Austin. It will be recalled that Minta started her foraging efforts even before the meeting at the Cypress Creek Cafe. She also managed to find a piano that the Fellowship could have. Carrie Larkey was recruited to play the piano for the first service. She did not realize at that time that she would be the pianist throughout the life of the Fellowship.

Things were really going well. There were a few things left to be taken care of: cleaning the building, publicity for the church and the first service, and a sign on the road informing people of the existence of the new church. And, oh yes, permission must be granted by the link church to celebrate communion. The Ides of October would soon arrive. The Wimberley Presbyterian Fellowship was ready.

The first worship of the new Wimberley Presbyterian Fellowship went off without a hitch; well, without any serious hitch. The service was scheduled for 11:00 AM that long-awaited Sunday, October 15, 1989. The Reverend Deborah (Debbie) Parsons was Minta's selection to lead the new church in its first worship service. At that time Debbie was a staff member of Mission Presbytery in San Antonio and director of its Resource Center, an audio-video library for area churches. She was a member of the pastoral staff of University Presbyterian Church in Austin before joining the staff of Presbytery. Debbie is a lovely lady and an outstanding preacher, but she is not very tall; in fact, she is not tall at all. When she first went to the donated pulpit to preach she could barely see over it. There was much scurrying around while a stack of hymnals was placed for her to stand on. She showed remarkable agility in maintaining her balance throughout the service. She returned to the pulpit several more times. The congregation always looked forward to her inspiring message and charm.
The coffee mess was in the sanctuary. That was not a very good arrangement, of course, but there was no other place to put it. It was only a one-room, store-front church. Upon arrival for the service many of the worshipers availed themselves of a cup of coffee. In fact, one of the circulars spread around town advertising the church's first service invited people to come early to enjoy a period of fellowship before the service. The result: Wimberley Presbyterian Starbucks. It was at least 11:15 before everyone was seated; most with coffee in hand, the service commencing with the rattle of coffee cups in the background. Nothing was said for fear of scaring off prospective new supplicants. This rather irreverent behavior went on until there was a second room for the fellowship hall. Such is life.

For reasons long forgotten, the chairs and pulpit in the sanctuary were not lined up east west (parallel to the street) as any normal person would have done; rather, they were lined up facing the windows. Not perpendicular to the windows either, but at an angle of about thirty degrees. Rather unusual to say the least.

None of these things nor the several other minor difficulties affected the enthusiasm of those who had worked so long and hard to see the beginning of a new church in the village. Everyone felt as if they had indeed experienced the soothing effect to the mind, temper, and spirit of the Balm of Gilead.

There were 37 worshipers at that service. Offerings totaled $280.
 

Although the first service had been successful, there was still much more to be done. Minta had said earlier that she had the perfect interim pastor who, she was sure, would serve until a permanent pastor could be called. She had in mind a retired Presbyterian Minister who lived in San Marcos and who was just finishing up a similar position in Kingsville. Conway Wharton was born in the Belgian Congo in 1920, and on some special occasions calls himself an African-American. His father was a Presbyterian missionary in that country. Conway has over 50 years of service in God's work which started as a Navy Chaplain in 1945. He has since been pastor in a Louisiana church and several churches in Texas. He has served as counselor or director of camps and conferences, spent several years on the Presbytery Committee on Ministry, served on the Presbytery General Council, and on several committees in the Synod of the Sun among other church assignments. He retired in 1987 as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Lockhart/Lulling, but still feeling like a young man, he took the position in Kingsville. Alas, his tour of duty in Kingsville was extended for six months, and Wimberley was faced with having the pulpit filled by a different minister each Sunday. Minta would find a minister for all those Sundays until Conway arrived. Among those were Bob Randolph, a member of the congregation, Debbie Parsons several times, Joe Owens, Philip Faris, Bill Logan, David Evans, Pastor of the Link Church, Shepherd of the Hills, Dr. George Wortherm, and Heinrich Eiler, himself.
The Fellowship rocked along for the next six months without a moderator until Conway came aboard the middle of May, 1990. A Steering Committee, formed to run things as best they could, consisted at various times of from four to six of these members of the Fellowship.

Heinrich- I went to Wimberley yesterday and they had 42 (at church). That exceeds Giddings, Lockhart, Smithville, Lulling, Pilgrim, Yoakum, and Karnes City on a normal Sunday. That's seven out of ten in Farmland Cluster. Jim Winn took up the offering. I jokingly asked him if they had made a Presbyterian Deacon out of him yet. He immediately replied that he is going to transfer (from the Chapel). Later he said, "You know I find that with this group I look forward to Sundays."� Ain't that good?
Bill

Yes, it was good and rather surprising at the time.

Conway with Heinrich's guidance and assistance completed all the paperwork required for organization. Needless to say there was a lot of it, comprehensible only to those who are experts on the Book of Order. At first it was planned to request church status at the October 26, 1990, meeting of Presbytery in McAllen. That proved impossible for cogent reasons, among which were McAllen's distance from Wimberley, and the fact that, at that time, Presbytery had never heard of Wimberley. Anyway the Fellowship was to be organized as a "Particular Congregation of the Presbyterian Church (USA)"�, whatever that is. The petition for organization was to be presented to Presbytery on March 1, 1991, at 3:00 PM in the First Presbyterian Church, Victoria. There were 27 members of the Fellowship who made the trip to Victoria. They stopped for lunch at a place complete with the customary and expected bar. Deja vu, all over again. There they reviewed the plans, firmed up a list of candidates for the first session, and reread the original Statement of Purpose:

"We believe that all humans are created by God in the image of God. Through baptism and eating one bread and drinking one cup, we become brothers and sisters in Christ, and a vital part of the Body of Christ. Our purpose is "to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever."� We do this by providing a time and place for worship, study and fellowship for members and visitors to our community. As the Body of Christ, our purpose is to bring out the image of God in each other, by being friendly, forgiving, cooperative, considerate, generous, patient, sharing, reverent, loving and harmonious. Through bible study, prayer and worship we expect to grow spiritually. Jesus said: "Herein is my Father glorified, that you bear such fruit."� Our purpose beyond ourselves is to discover the needs of those around us and in the world, and to minister to those as we are able."�

Mission Presbytery was all assembled at the church in Victoria awaiting the group from Wimberley who had gathered out in the church foyer. When the signal was given the anointed 27 marched down the aisle, up to the choir loft, and sat down. After a minimum of preliminaries Dottie Sweeton came down from the loft, went to the pulpit and presented the case for organization, and it was all over. The verdict was in the hands of the jury.
 

If one had carefully examined the minutes of Mission Presbytery from say January 1989 through March 2, 1991, he would have found only one entry that mentioned Wimberley or the Fellowship. That one entry would have been dated March 1-2, 1991.

That was the date of the two-day Presbytery meeting in Victoria.

A NEW CHURCH IS BORN! Michael Beaugh, Chair of the Division of Evangelism and Congregational Development, presided over a ceremony to authorize the organization of the Wimberley Presbyterian Church in Wimberley, Texas. There are 43 names on the petition, and 27 were present at the Presbytery meeting in Victoria. Presbytery voted to organize the Wimberley (sic) Presbyterian Church, effective March 10 by means of a commission to be duly appointed during the meeting. The commission is composed of ministers David Renwick (Chairman), Deborah Parsons, and Heinrich Eiler. Elders on the commission are: Bill Clement (Smithville), Minta C. McIntosh (San Antonio), Sue Wortham, and Bobbie Nelson.

A few days later this came to Conway from Presbytery signed by Leslie E. Ellison, Stated Clerk

Dear friends:

In its meeting of March 1-2, 1991, at First Presbyterian Church, Victoria Mission Presbytery voted to honor the petition of the various persons in Wimberley who desire to become a fully organized Presbyterian Church. To carry out this decision, Presbytery appointed the following persons to constitute a commission (the list contained the same names as listed above). The ceremony is to be held at 5:00 p.m., Sunday, March 10, 1991.

The various persons in Wimberley were the 43 charter members of Wimberley Presbyterian Church whose names were on the petition. Two other charter members were added later:

Preparations for the big event on March 10 began immediately. It was decided that there would be two worship services that Sunday, one at the regular time and then the service for the organization of the church at 5:PM. At the morning worship a last chance was given for anyone else to become a charter member. Marcella and Rebecca Rich took advantage of this opportunity. In the order of worship for that service there was this notice. "The day to which we have been looking forward since October 15, 1989 has finally arrived. After one year and six months we will become Wimberley Presbyterian Church. The hour is 5:PM,and (the service) will be followed by a dinner of thanksgiving."

There was a real large crowd at the evening activities, over 100 family, friends, and well-wishers. The members of the new church, over the one and a half years, had developed a genuine devotion for the Fellowship, love of their fellow worshipers, and pleasure in being in God's presence with them each Sunday.

The ceremony of organization went off without a hitch.

Barbara Bonner was Chairman of the Thanksgiving Dinner Committee. That guaranteed an elegant and gala affair. There being no kitchen in the church, it had to be potluck, but the ladies, and a few men, did wonderful things in their own kitchens. As usual Barbara's knack for decorating was in evidence, as well as some of her beautiful tableware. All in all it was a great beginning for a new life.

At the end of March, 1991, there were 49 members in the new church. Offerings for the month were $1,827.05. There was $588.51 in the checking account and $7,235.56 in the savings account. The first Session was composed of the following ruling elders:

Bobbie Clark was elected Elder Emeritus. Bobbie was Minta's mother.

Things were booming in the old oil patch in the eighties, and consequently it was boom time in Wimberley. That decade saw the old, rural Wimberley fade away, and a new, more urbane Wimberley take its place, complete with a traffic light and a Dairy Queen. Some welcomed the change; others deplored it.
It was in the spring of 1986 that a stranger rode into town one day, dressed in designer jeans, wearing a white hat, and carrying, not a saddle bag, but an alligator-leather briefcase. He wandered into one of the local businesses and spoke to the owner.

    Nice little town you have here.
    We like it.
    Business been pretty good around here has it?
    Tolerable.
    You know all the business people around here?
    Most of 'em.
    I've come over here from Kerrville to talk to some business people.
    Nice drive coming from Kerrville.
    I represent the Shiner Savings Group. That's a savings and loan outfit.
    What brings you to Wimberley?
    Well my folks have a million or so dollars to invest in Wimberley, and I'm looking for someone to take some of that money and do something with it. Make some money for them and some for us. You wouldn't know anybody like that would you?
    As a matter of fact I own a little land out on the Blanco road. I've been meaning to do something with it, maybe put up a nice little office building.
    That's just what we're looking for. Now you take one of these loan applications, fill it out and bring it over to Kerrville. Nice drive over to Kerrville. By the way, what's your name?
    Winn. Jim Winn.

Well, yes, there's a little exaggeration in that story, but Jim will tell you that it was pretty easy to get mortgage money in those days. Furthermore, he will tell you that he thought it was all God's Plan that things worked out the way they eventually did.

The "nice little office building"� was completed and named The Oaks. However, by this time the man with the alligator-leather briefcase no longer came knocking on the door. Times were not so good anymore, and The Oaks lay vacant. Fortuitously, that is when the newly-forming Wimberley Fellowship was in need of a place to worship temporarily. Jim Winn's offer to let the Fellowship worship at The Oaks at no cost was a blessing from God. But God moves in mysterious ways. The arrangement was indeed temporary.  The bank foreclosed on the property after only two Sunday worship services. Woe is our name.

The small congregation was worried. With good reason. "Could we continue to worship at The Oaks? At no cost? Do you realize the collection plate yields less than $300 per week? Utilities, insurance, stamps, office supplies (there was no actual office, of course), a stipend for our weekly visiting pastor, our obligation to Presbytery, and our benevolence funds, which we refuse to touch, leaves little for rent. TLWP, so we say with a high five, The Lord Will Provide."� Those were the sentiments of the small congregation at the time. TLWP.
Again it was Dottie Sweeton who took the lead in finding a solution to the immediate problem. She got in touch with the bank They agreed that the Fellowship could continue with the same no-cost arrangement, because it was such a small matter within the larger scheme of things, however, they emphasized, such should not by any means be considered a permanent arrangement. Dottie tried to negotiate a permanent lease arrangement with them. In due course they came back with a lease for her to sign. The larger scheme of things now included The Oaks at $600 per month rental cost for one room in the building. Dottie appealed. "For goodness sakes, we barely have enough money to pay our monthly bills. Would you be willing to accept $10 a month?" They would consider it, she misunderstood. Very encouraging, she thought. She lined out the $600 per month on the lease document and substituted $10 per month, initialed it, and started sending the bank monthly $10 checks.

Things were going along quite well for a number of weeks at $10 per month. Then came the day of reckoning, January 30, 1990.

Dear Dottie:

I regret to inform you that the lease that we submitted to NCNB has been rejected. Please understand that this property must conform to strict regulations and that the amount of rent for your space does not meet the criteria.

NCNB does not wish to cause you any inconvenience, however, you are requested to vacate the premises as soon as possible.

If I can be of any assistance in helping you find another location, please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,

Hal Coley

Woe is our name. Again! More wringing of hands. What to do? Look for a new place to worship? Maybe the Opera House at 7A Ranch, or at one of the schools, or maybe at someone's home. Look for land to buy, upon which to build a new church? Several desirable parcels were looked at: the hill above the new post office (at that time it was new), the property near where the Lutherans were planning to build, the corner on Kyle Road at Flight Acres road. Those things were done, but as it turned out the best thing to do was what was done: nothing.
By this time the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC), the government agency, formed to sort out the savings and loan debacle, had become involved in The Oaks affair. They were not up to speed in Central Texas, barely knowing what properties they owned, much less knowing what income was expected from those properties. Dottie continued to send in the $10 checks for a while and then stopped altogether. It is certainly noteworthy that none of the $10 checks was ever cashed. So the Fellowship remained at The Oaks, gaining confidence and members week by week, and even accumulating a little money in the bank.

It was during this latter period that it was learned that the key to the room that the Fellowship was renting for the sanctuary also opened the doors to all the other rooms in the building. The congregation could certainly make good use of another room to be used as a fellowship hall. They were tired of having coffee spilled on the sanctuary floor. The RTC was asked if it would be okay if a second room was utilized by the Fellowship. The RTC essentially didn't care what was done. The Fellowship now had a fellowship hall.

That was the situation on March 10, 1991, when the Wimberley Presbyterian Church was organized at a service at 5:00 PM in the sanctuary followed by a gala dinner in the fellowship hall. There was no door connecting the two rooms, but by that time things were so rosy that nobody cared.
 

The Wimberley Presbyterian Fellowship received some wonderful gifts during its early days, all of them by local artists and craftsmen, except for the pews and pulpit.
The Wooden Cross. In the early months there was no cross in the sanctuary. Dr. Bob Randolph, one of the charter members of the Church, and others, commented on many occasions that there must be a cross in the Church before it would be an appropriate place to worship. Bob decided on his own, without telling anyone, that he would see that a cross was made. He wanted a handmade Celtic cross, and he set out to find someone in the area who could and would do it. He was talking over his project with some of his friends at Southwest Texas State University, when the spouse of an associate said he could do it and would like to give a go. Bob had conceived of a cross made of ebony wood, to remind the congregation of the worldwide mission of the church. The craftsman, Larry Hanson, told him where the exotic wood could be obtained. Bob got some and took it over to Larry's house where the two of them designed the cross and worked on it most of the night. It was finished the next day. Bob showed it to a colleague and fellow church member, Dr. John Blair, who volunteered to apply a protective coat of oil to the cross. It was finished and soon hung behind the pulpit in the Fellowship sanctuary. Incidentally, Dr. Blair's son, James, was one of the first infants baptized at the Church.

Dr. Randolph is an ordained Presbyterian Minister and teaches in the English Department at Southwest where he is a Professor of English Literature. He joined the Fellowship after reading in the Wimberley View of the scheduled meeting in the Cypress Creek Cafe. Bob received a Fulbright award to teach in Finland. He has also been abroad on many other teaching awards. Don't try to match wits with him; his wife Amy is also a PhD. One might have noticed the rocking chair in the nursery. Bob donated his favorite chair to the Church after noticing the difficult time a young mother was having trying to listen to the minister while tending to her little baby.

Paintings by Alice Bourque. Three signed religious paintings by Alice Bourque were gifts received early in the life of the Fellowship. The Last Supper reflects her research and study of domestic life in the time of Jesus. She thought that the room where Jesus and the disciples met would probably have been in the second story of a typical middle class home, with no elaborate furniture or decorations. The lower level would have housed their domestic animals and supplies. Sitting or lounging on the floor would have been more likely than sitting in chairs at a table, and clothes worn would have been simple, loose-fitting garments, as opposed to the rather elaborate setting and clothes pictured in most paintings of the event. The painting of Jesus As A Young Man reflects Alice's imaginary vision of how Jesus might have looked as a young man, handsome and physically imposing, yet with the Hebrew features and beard. Mary and Joseph with the Baby is a portrait of the young family posing as a young family might do today. It is different because of the presence of Joseph, who is not often seen in religious art. Of interest is the quizzical and somewhat bewildered look on Joseph's face. One can understand why. This picture has been misplaced and cannot be found.

Alice lived in Wimberley several years but moved back to Beaumont, her old home town, when her friend Eleonor Wirfel died. She is well known in the Central Texas art community. Much of her work can be seen in St. Mary's Catholic Church here in Wimberley. She designed the stained-glass windows there, and several of her paintings are displayed. Alice is a portrait artist. One can appreciate that by examining carefully the faces in the last supper painting. Among other works are full-length, life-size portraits of John Guemple and Bill Johnson.

The Copper Cross. The large copper cross on the wall in the Fellowship Hall is the work of Buck Winn. It is on loan from Jim Winn, Buck Winn's son. April and Andrew are Buck's grandchildren. The cross was taken from Buck Winn's large studio on the 4-Winns ranch and was never displayed before it was hung in The Oaks. After graduating from Washington University, Buck studied abroad for a few years, returned to America in 1929, settled in Dallas and married Kitty Butler. He and Kitty made Wimberley their permanent home in 1941 and built the ranch home and studio which still remain in the Winn family. built the ranch home and studio which still remain in the Winn family.

Buck Winn was an internationally known artist. His work can be seen in the Dallas Medical Arts Building, Majestic Building in San Antonio, Commercial National Bank in Shreveport, Dow Chemical Center in Freeport, and the Visitors Center in Wimberley. His art has been exhibited in many museums in the United States and in France. He designed the postage stamp commemorating the Texas Centennial in 1936. Not only was Buck Winn a great artist but also a distinguished citizen of the community. The Wimberley Presbyterian Fellowship is indeed blessed to have his art displayed in its fellowship building. (Although not a part of this tale, the story behind the acquisition of the mural in the Wimberley Visitors Center is very interesting, too.)

Pulpit and Pews. If one goes to Lockhart and takes the blue roads, as if going to Smithfield, he will find himself on Route 535. It would take about an hour and a half to get to Smithfield, providing there was no stop in Lockport for barbecue. About five miles shy of Smithfield, if he carefully watches the road signs, he would see a sign: Kovar Road. And if he turned right on Kovar Road, in about three miles, he would come to a fork in the road where Kovar Road goes straight and the apparent main road goes off to the left. On the left, at the fork, is a mobile home with the little A-frame shelters that house fighting cocks. On the right, perhaps 100 hundred yards down Kovar road, is the modest home of Mr. and Mrs. Hajdik, August and Della. On down the road is what remains of the village of Kovar. Long, long ago, in the village down the road, there lived three families: the Pollas, Della's ancestors, the Kubiceks, and the Kovars, the founders of the small Czech village. The village had a saloon and a cotton gin, the two marks of prosperity in those days. As the children and grandchildren of the village found greener pastures elsewhere, the village became the relic that it is today. No saloon, no cotton gin.

Back where the mobile home sits, and the cocks idle their time waiting to kill or be killed, there was until a few years ago a church, the United Brethren Church, a non-denominational church catering to the minority Protestants in the community. Further, if you had worshipped in the church, you would have sat in the very same pews that you now (1999) occupy in the Wimberley Presbyterian Church. The Wimberley Fellowship, tired of the ugly, folding chairs in the sanctuary, advertised in a religious publication to see if they could find used furnishings to meet their needs. The result was the acquisition of the pews, a pulpit, and a communion table from the Brethrens. Conway, et al, went to Kovar, loaded the furnishings on a truck and brought them back to Wimberley. The solid-oak pews, in particular, were cleaned and polished, and the beautiful patina of the old wood came to light. The church building itself was moved about ten miles away from Kovar and converted into a home. The conversion was so radical that its origin as a church would not be realized by the casual observer. The church and its one acre lot were sold for $4500.

Old folks are partial to old things. The Hajiks are octogenarians who have lived in Kovar all their life and have a wealth of information about the town and its people. Having lived within sight of the Brethrens, although not a member of that church, August can and will tell you perhaps more than you want to know about the people of Kovar and their problems. He says the Brethren's Church had "at least 50 or 60, or maybe 75 members" in its heyday, even though most of the people in town attended the Catholic Church. He can't remember when the pews and other furnishings were not in the church. The church cemetery has head stones noting birth dates as early as 1837 and many death dates in the 1860's, 70's, and 80's. One would assume that the furnishings from the Brethrens are certifiable antiques.
 

At the meeting in the Allison house a letter from the Shepherd of the Hills was read to the
Fellowship:

Wimberley Presbyterian Fellowship Wimberley, Texas


Dear Friends-

The Session of Shepherd of the Hills Presbyterian Church has agreed that SHPC will be your ˜link church" and has agreed that Bobbie Nelson will be our elder on your steering committee. Bobbie has been active in the life of SHPC since its beginning and will be an invaluable resource for your group.

The Session has also requested that I write and offer you the support of the Session and Congregation of SHPC in your venture. We have not been in existence so long that we have forgotten the struggles and disappointments of the early days. But we have learned that the Lord will provide -maybe not in just the way we expected -but in His way. We pray God's blessing on your Fellowship and hope that it will be a blessing in the Wimberley community.

Yours in Christ

Bette Klemt; Clerk

That is indeed a real nice letter. It was in response to a letter from Minta requesting that the SHCP act as link church, and inviting a representative from the SHCP to meet with the Wimberley bunch at the bar in the Cypress Creek Cafe. This representative was Bobbie Nelson. Minta pointed out that the representative would be expected to meet monthly with the Fellowship and to submit a report at least once every two months to the Session of the SHPC reporting the progress of the Fellowship. Also, it was she who would give the Fellowship permission to have the Communion Service. In actual fact the link church representative came to only a couple of committee meetings. The meetings were at night, and the drive down from Austin was really inadvisable. It was agreed, therefore, that if her presence were required, a member of the Fellowship would fetch her down from Austin. She later moved to Fredericksburg. She was at the meeting at the Cafe and participated in the organizational worship service. Also, The Reverend David Evans preached at Wimberley on March 18, 1990. The SHCP donated the Advent wreath for 1989 and invited the Wimberley bunch to Christmas services at the SHCP and to a Father's Day picnic at Woodcreek. Members of the Fellowship attended both of these functions.

It is not really surprising that there was little discourse between the Fellowship and the SHCP representative. The Fellowship, over the course of time, had developed a confidence in their ability to do it by themselves and saw no need for further outside help except for Minta and Heinrich. In some instances they might very well have been a little over confident. It was not a serious problem though, and in the end it all worked in the best interests of God's work, and the assistance of the SHCP was appreciated.
 

Music was considered to be one of the most important elements of the Fellowship worship service, but it was not so easily obtained. That is, music of any quality. At the first service there was an accompanist on the piano, and the hymn Holy, Holy, Holy was wisely chosen to be the first musical attempt. It was sort of a choir of the whole with no director. Every voice was raised in exuberant jubilation, "HOLY HOLY HOLY"�, with some few in the right key. That was all right, though. The Fellowship was going strong in every sense of the word, and the music was bound to get better. It became apparent early on that it was fatal to try any but the most familiar hymns, and that was all right, too. So members of the congregation were invited to pick the hymns that they would like to sing, which would assure that at least one person knew the song.

Carrie Larkey was the piano accompanist that had to put up with all this. God bless her. She continued throughout the life of the Fellowship with a substitute only for the Christmas and New Year's season. The Fellowship had received a Hammond organ as a gift from Mrs. Norman Tempio of San Antonio in early 1990, which added to the potential for more mischief.

And then Peter and Ellen Hewitt joined the congregation. Pete knew music, and he could sing. He kept his feelings to himself as long as he could, just joining his fine tenor voice in with the babble. Finally, he could stand it no longer; he stood up in front of the congregation and led the choir of the whole like it was the Boston Pops. That modus operandi lasted for a while, actually showing some improvement in the singing of the familiar songs. As time went on Pete said to himself, "Do I dare try to make a choir out of this rabble?" Pete was an optimist, so he placed a notice in the Order of Worship for Sunday, January 20, 1991, "NEEDED: A few volunteers to form a choir so we can learn new hymns and congregational responses. Please contact Peter Hewitt"� He got these volunteers and the Fellowship had a choir, and Pete was choir director.

Mildred Dill was the secretary of the Steering Committee. In addition to her secretarial duties she wrote a monthly newsletter about the comings and goings of the members of the church family. The following items, chosen at random from the newsletters, show what a fun bunch they were.
Marie Smith's picture was in the Wimberley View with a piggy bank. Members of the Men's Bowling League contribute a dime for games over a hundred. At the end of the season the money is used for their annual banquet

Ellen and Pete Hewitt expect to leave for Georgia soon to meet their new grandson. Betty Kudla was portrayed as one of the Andrews Sisters in the San Marcos Daily Record. They sang Rum and Coca Cola at the Wimberley Area Republican Women's Club.

Bea and Don Patterson are going to Springfield, Missouri for an army reunion and then on to Las Vegas.

On Sunday, August 26, we had a going away party for Dr. Bob Randolph following worship. Bob was presented with a gift of Finnish currency. He will be gone for four months on a Fulbright lectureship at Oulu University in Oulu, Finland.

Don Patterson went to the doctor on November 1 with a possible herniated disc. We hope he will be on the mend by the time you read this newsletter.

On work day Stayton and Barbara Bonner, Everett Anschutz, Judy McLarrey, Marie Smith, Dottie Sweeton, Eileen Trapp, and Conway Wharton washed the windows, vacuumed the carpet, dusted the furniture, cleaned the restrooms, re-hung the cross, sharpened the pencils, and tended to everything else that needed doing.

Ken and Anne Allison will be visiting and baby sitting in Virginia with one of their daughters and family.

Bobbie Clark has returned from the hospital where she underwent therapy treatment. She said she misses us and hopes to see us as soon as possible.

Debbie Parsons preached her first sermon at University Presbyterian Church on the 28th.  She has been called to direct their Pastoral Care Program.

Beth and Blake Brown have completed their move to Kerrville. We will miss them and pray for God's blessing for them.

In some ways a little church is better than a big one.