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Bastrop Christian Church is a Protestan Christian church located in downtown Bastrop, Texas, United States.

Origins
In early 1850, Christian evangelists held sporadic services in rural areas and homes of the early settlers of Bastrop, Texas, United States. The exact date of the origin of Bastrop Christian congregation, however, was not recorded in church or public records. It is believed that it was active at least since 1851 because the earliest records found by the Bastrop Church show that parson William Jones Wright H. Rutherford was conducting religious marriages in Bastrop County since then and organizing at the Bastrop County Courthouse starting 1857. That year, the church was presided by Elder Thomas, and Elder John D. McCall was responsible for conducting the principal preaching services. The sessions were held in the upper story of the courthouse and in a "red building" later known as the J. W. Kennedy corn mill and cotton gin. Bastop County records show that Rutherford signed a marriage certificate as "Minister of the Christian Church" on 13 October 1851, followed by at least eight more marriages up until 5 May 1859. By 1862, a marriage license issued by Bastrop County was signed by John R. McCall (not John D. McDowall), who referred to himself as Minister of the Christian Church.

After a decade of religious activity, congregation member Hugh K. McDonald purchased a parcel on 1104 Church Street in downtown Bastrop and sold it for US$1 to the Bastrop Christian congregation on 25 September 1867. The parcel's deed was given to James H. Wilkins, A. A. Erhard, and J. M. Beavers, elder members of the congregation. It was recorded by Bastrop County Clerk John M. Claiborne on 8 October 1867. There was a small, rock building in this location that the congregation began to use as their church. There are conflicting reports on who was responsible for building the rock edifice that once was in the location where the church now stands; one account from the The Bastrop Advertiser suggests that McDonald and his wife contributed much of the lumber used in the edification of the little rock church. However, Bastrop Church officials believe that the rock building was likely created by someone else for other reasons on or before 1862, and that McDonald acquired the land in a tax sale with the rock building already in place, and as indicated earlier, then sold it to the congregation.

In 1888, the yearbook of the Disciples of Christ stated that the Bastrop Christian Church had 80 members. However, no ministers were listed in the report. By 1892, the yearbook stated that Bastrop had 100 members and 108 pupils and teachers. The yearbook also noted that James William Lowber, chancellor of Add-Ran University (later Texas Christian University), assisted Elder B. F. Wilson in a series of theological meetings at the Bastrop Christian Church. Add-Ran's land was bought with donations from the Throp family from Granbury, Texas. They were the grandparents of Ida Lou Cecil (née Long), a long-time member of the Bastrop congregation. In 1888, congregation members B. B. Sanders and Brother Douthet conducted religious efforts in Elgin, Texas, and helped organized the Central Christian Church. The Bastrop Christian Church bought a parcel for the church's construction in Elgin and later sold the land to that congregation. In 17 January 1891, the Bastrop Christian Church was supplied with hymn and tune book from James Henry Fillmore containing a "rare selection of church music".

Before the Disciples of Christ began recording keeping and publishing data about their movement in an annual book starting in 1885, most of the information about the movement was primarily mentioned in correspondence and reports sent by individuals to various periodicals published by early missionary groups. The Millennial Harbinger in the US state of Virginia was where most of these reports were sent.' The Bastrop congregation, however, had no rules or regularities for these activities; the Bastrop church is only a few times in passing by traveling evangelists who sent correspondence to the Millennial Harbinger confirming new converts joining the church between 1858 and 1892.' Bastrop church authorities believe that organization and correspondence were evidently low priorities for the congregation in what at that time was seen primarily as a "movement" and not as an established "church".

Church's construction
On 21 April 1894, discussions around the edification of a new church were made public in the local newspaper. The Bastrop Advertiser said that the Bastrop Christian congregation was eager to erect a new building and that it would be the biggest religious edifice in town. They said that the congregation was considering to sell their lot and building and that they were looking at other locations in which to build their new church building. Minister Claude L. Jones issued a statement calling for "every member" of the congregation to join him for his next mass ceremony because "an important matter [was] to be considered". On 7 July, Kentucky orator Homer T. Wilson announced that he was conducting a lecture at the Bastrop Opera House to raise funds for the church's construction. Admission fees were 50 and 25 cents for adults and children, respectively.

On 26 January 1895, local records indicated that the Bastrop congregation had a subscription list of its members to help raise funds for the creation of a church, but that the efforts were cancelled and resumed numerous times. Nearly US$1,000 had been raised by female members during these fundraisers. By 16 March 1895, the church's building committee examined several constructions plans for the church and told the local press that the building would "be an ornament to the city". On 13 April 1895, the Young People's Society of Christian Endeavour was at the Bastrop Christian Church to organize a special Easter service. The church was decorated with flowers for the occasion and Easter essays were prepared for churchgoers. The event was opened to the public.

On 8 June 1895, the Bastrop Christian Church posted a notice on The Bastrop Advertiser announcing that plans and specifications for the new church building were available for review at The Erhard Cash Store, and that bids for the constructed were welcomed until 15 June. The notice said that church authorities reserved the right to reject any and all bids. It was signed by congregation member and construction committee chairman A. A. Erhard. On 22 June, a contractor named Slonaker was granted the contract for building the new church. The church's committee was unanimously in favor of Slonaker and said that the building's construction was "in good hands". The church was expected to be completed and ready for occupancy by the middle of February or early March 1896.

Fund raising efforts continued after the bid was granted; many of the fundraising efforts from July to August were led by female congregation members. The efforts included ice cream and cake sales. On 19 July 1895, some congregation members pledged to raise US$200 for the church's construction and served ice cream at a local store. On 27 July, 10 August, and 17 August, female congregation members held an ice cream and cake sale at several locations in Bastrop to raise funds.  In September, Ruth McDowall from the Crocheron–McDowall residence organized an evening event of readings and music to benefit the church fund. The following month, another fundraising event was held at the Bastrop Opera House with proceeds gathered from Charley's Aunt comedy play. The Bastrop Advertiser noted the female members' "persistence and perseverance" in raising funds for the church.

On 5 October 1895, The Bastrop Advertiser reported that the church's construction was "progressing nicely", and that Slonaker was using high-quality lumber and workmanship. There was also an opinion editorial published that day that included a request to the church. The editor suggested church officials to include a homage to McDonald in the new building. The editor argued that McDonald purchased the parcel where the church was being constructed and had furnished a large portion of the original edifice. "Would it not be well to have a McDonald Memorial window in the new building? Not an expensive one", the editor wrote. "Let the name 'McDonald' be on one, as a slight recognition and remembrance of the great Christian merit...".

The small rock edifice was used as the congregation's gathering area for about 30 years was demolished to create the New England Victorian style church that is present today. The construction costs totaled approximately US$3,400. The dedicatory address was given to B. B. Sanders, the church's pastor, and Homer T. Wilson. Their first service at this building was held on 23 February 1896. The trustees who signed the first charter of the congregation were A. A. Erhard, A. C. Erhard, and T. W. Cain, former owner of The Bastrop Advertiser. With the new location, the Bastrop Christian Church planned to expand their music displays. On 8 June 1896, Homer T. Wilson held a lecture at the church to raise funds for an organ.

No church records have been located for years prior to 1898. Information about the Bastrop congregation prior to that year were put together by the church by searching through newspaper records, public records, and writings shared by early churchgoers. There are a few Sunday school books with information about the congregation from 1903 and 1937, and financial ledgers covering member subscriptions from 1898 through 1901, but overall there is a near total absence of records covering the church's early history. In 1947, the Central Christian Church in Austin, Texas, put together a history research report to commemorate their 100th anniversary. Although there was no mention of the Bastrop church in the report, Bastrop church authorities believe that some of the same characteristics of the early congregation in Austin were likely similar in their congregation too. The report described the Austin congregation as small and disorganized.

In the summer of 1970, the church entered an eight-year period of inactivity. Church records are plentiful after their reactivation in 1978.

Architecture
Bastrop Christian Church is the second oldest religious building in Bastrop, preceded by the Calvary Episcopal Church, built in 1881. Most of the building's New England Victorian architecture remains intact from its original with some exceptions, including the wood and floor coverings, and the environmental control systems. The building's exterior was constructed using wooden frames, and the interior walls and tongue and groove floorings are of 8 in wooden pines from local pines trees. The facing and trims were made using long leaf Louisiana pine wood. In addition, wood shingles (which were originally made of cedar) cover the entire roof. There is a wooden archway that separates the pulpit and baptismal areas. On each side of the sanctuary is an alcove with pew and above these is a carved design depicting sun rays. The light symbols have numerous Biblical references, including phrase referencing Jesus as the Light of the World and versus such as John 1:7. These light symbols are present in both the internal and external architecture.

The original wall finish was made of canvas and wall paper, which was common in buildings of the period. Pressed wall boards were installed on the walls and ceilings in the 1930s by A. J. Woehl Sr., a member of the church. The pews, pulpit, communion table, and twelve chairs surrounding the communion table are believed to be original. The baptistry, found under trap doors behind the pulpit area, are functional. On the eastern wall there is a circular window with the Star of David in stained-glass. The entire church has 24 stained glass windows and were likely imported from Europe. There are larger windows around the sanctuary and baptistery; they were hinged in the center so that they could be tilted open to permit ventilation. However, building codes changed over the years and they were required to be sealed to comply with modern heating/air conditioning systems.

The weather vane on the steeple is original and displays the word "Christian". The building has a pier and beam foundation, and was constructed of pine timbers and red bricks. There are three rooms in the building; one of them is in the bell tower, and two more are on each side of the baptistry. These rooms were once used to for Sunday school classes. The exterior of the building is made of Cypress wood, and the east side of the building there is a repeat "Light of the World" phrase, similar to the interior. In addition, there are circular windows shaped as the Star of David with grape vine cut-outs on each side of the building. The sun rise and grape/vine symbolism is also present in the northeast entrance porch; there are cut-out grapes leaves on each side of the corner post top. The northwest and southwest porches both have grape leaves on their corner posts. The grapes are a reference to John 15:5, where Jesus refers himself as a "vine"; the grapes are a reference to the wine used during the holy communion service.

Preservation efforts
In 2018, the church formed a preservation committee to address the needed repairs after years of deterioration. The committee first replaced the roof, which costed $54,000. Over the years, they funded repairs from gifts and donations from church goers and others. But a study conducted by Hutson Gallagher, LLC, a historic preservation architecture and conservation firm based in Austin, estimated that all of the needed repairs to preserve the church totaled $600,000. The first phase of this multi-year project was costed at $250,000. With a congregation of around 100, the church expressed its concerns with the cost and spoke with the media about requesting external assistance to fund the preservation, including a financial aid and grant from University Christian Church.

"When you go to small towns, you see these small churches, sometimes they’re brick, sometimes they’re stone, and often they’re wooden and it’s the wooden churches that are hard to retain over decades and decades," Building Preservation Committee Chair Earl Ellisor said. "We’re trying to save this one and make sure it’s safe for future generations and it’s become rather iconic in Downtown Bastrop," Ellisor said.

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