HomeMy WebLinkAboutEuless Methodist Church 2003"Missionary Institute"
and
"Family Case Study of a Country Community"
1931
EULESS METHODIST CHURCH
Euless, Texas
By Weldon Cannon, February, 2003
Following are references to the "Missionary Institute" at the Euless Methodist Church
that appear in Jewel Clementine Posey's Bachelor of Divinity Thesis, "Family Case Study of a
Country Community[Euless]," approved by the Department of Sociology of Southern Methodist
University, June, 1931, with family name, date of visit in 1931 and page number of thesis.
Leslie & Bertie Bell, 3/7, p. 7 -- "Mrs. Bell asked about the Institute."
Lawrence & Willie Bell, 2/17, p. 9 -- "The whole family not only attended the Missionary
institute but helped to decorate the church for it."
M. W. & Ina Birch, 2/18, p. 12 -- "She [Luna] and her family attended every service of the
Institute, and her father came part of the time."
Ross & Winnie Cannon, 2/16, p. 31 -- "They stayed away from the Institute on account of the
baby's [Dorothy L.] whooping cough."
Roy & Oma Cannon, 2/17, p. 32 -- "... they planned to attend the Missionary Institute, but the
little girl [Jacel Marie] had a relapse about that time. They attended the one the year before. The
little boy [Jerald C.] was in the picture Mr. Miner made at school. .. Mrs. Cannon was at the
Methodist Church two weeks before our visit, and she spoke of hearing Mr. Miner preach at that
time."
K. C. & Beulah Crawford, 2/27, p. 44 -- "He [William] was in the group of boys when Mr.
Miner took their pictures at school, and he wanted to come to the Institute, but the baby [J. T.]
was sick."
H. F. & Minnie Debenport, 2/17, p. 56 -- "...the first visit of our survey."
Ed & Emma Fuller, 3/5, p. 95 -- "Mrs. Fuller ... attended the Institute ..."
Homer & Edith Fuller, 2/20, p. 96 -- "Mr. Fuller has been to church only once since
November, the last night of the Missionary Institute, ..."
Horace & Annie Fuller, 2/18, p. 98— "He attends church irregularly, and came to the
Institute once or twice"
Warren & Jessie Fuller, 3/9, p. 108 -- "Mrs. Fuller ... went to the Missionary Institute, and
was helping in the program to be given the next Saturday."
Jas. A. & Edna Horton, 2/18, p. 141 -- "They did not attend the institute, for there was
whooping cough in the community and they did not want the baby [Glada Ann] to take it"
Comer & Alice Horton, 2/18, p. 142 -- She was enthusiastic about the Institute and
participated in all the services."
Steve & Annie Huffman, 2/17, p. 144-- "He attended all the Institute services, ..."
Jas. T. & Agnes Jones, 2/17, 152— "She ... attended every service of the Institute ..."
Andy & Lillian Morelock, 2/18, p. 168 -- "They attended the Institute almost all the time."
Louisa Neely, 2/17, p. 177 -- "The little girl [Marjorie] had cried to come to the Institute to
see the pictures; ..."
Abe & Virginia Payton, 2/18, p. 183 -- "She wanted to go to the Institute, but could not leave
the baby [Jimmie Chas.]."
Thurston & Caliie Whitener, 3/5, p. 238 -- "She [Evelyn] ... took part in the pantomime in
the Institute, was in the play the girls were getting up, ..."
EXPLANATION:
In February and March, 1931, two activities involving the Euless Methodist Church
(now the First United Methodist Church of Euless) resulted in a permanent record that added to
Euless and Methodist Church history. First, under the direction of Ora "Pop" Miner, a
professor of sociology at SMU and a Methodist minister, the Euless church conducted a
"Missionary Institute." About the same time, one of professor Miner's students, Miss Jewel C.
Posey, at his suggestion and in cooperation with the church pastor and his wife, the Rev. and
Mrs. Paxton Smith, conducted a survey of the Euless community. Her survey became the basis of
her B.D. Thesis. She covered the Euless Parish of the Euless Charge (which included three other
churches), Fort Worth District of the Central Texas Conference, Methodist Episcopal Church,
South. The parish encompassed about 25 square miles. Its boundaries were approximately Little
Bear Creek on the north, Dallas County Line on the east, Trinity River on the south and a line
drawn about half way between Euless and Bedford on the west. Miss Posey visited 130 homes in
the parish, where 530 people lived.
Miss Posey, in her case study or survey of Euless, collected basic information about each
family -- names, birth dates, family relationships, educational levels, etc. Then she wrote a
short essay, from the viewpoint of a student of theology and sociology, revealing her impression
of each family based on one short visit. In her thesis are several references, listed above, to a
Missionary Institute, which apparently was conducted in early February. Some inferences about
the Institute might be drawn from these essays. For example, the Institute consisted of several
services, the last one being held before February 20. There-also had been an Institute the year
before. The director of the Institute made photographs of students at "the school," presumably
the Euless public school. In addition to the above mentions of the institute, there are references
to a play, a pantomime, a program and a style show at church that seem to have been part of the
Institute or connected in some way with it. The pantomime apparently had already taken place
by March 5; the play and program seem to have been scheduled for Saturday, March 14 or 20.
According to Miss Posey in the preface of the thesis, her primary purpose in conducting
the survey was to discern Euless residents' "attitude toward life, and particularly toward the
[Methodist] church- -not from mere curiosity, but in order that we might learn how the church
was meeting or failing to meet their needs and of what we might do as workers in that church to
help them." It provided a potentially valuable tool for the church. All of the data, besides being
preserved in her thesis, was filed in Mr. Smith's office for pastoral use.
How much Mr. Smith used the information in his pastoral work is not known. But the
survey remains an important contribution to Euless and Methodist church history. It is as
though the whole community had been asked to stop and pose for a photograph. In fact, Miss
Posey calls her thesis "a picture of the people of the Euless community as I saw them." The
permanent record, however, was created with words, not visual images. Any community's
history would be greatly enriched by such a document. The thesis is in the Bridwell Library at
SMU. I have copied it all for my own use in studying the history of Euless and the Methodist
Church at Euless.
I interviewed Miss Posey in Abilene, Texas, on March 8, 1996. In the interview she
revealed that she and Paxton Smith, pastor of the Euless church, were both students of
professor Miner at SMU. Mr. Miner suggested the Missionary Institute at the Euless church and
the survey of the Euless community. He had been pastor of churches in other parts of the
country before becoming professor. In his position at SMU he went out from Dallas on Sundays
for preaching appointments, usually taking theology students with him. He was very interested
in church missions, both home and foreign, although apparently he had never been a
missionary. After working at SMU for a few years he went to the Middle West or the Northeast,
perhaps New York, according to Miss Posey. The Euless church sponsored the Missionary
Institute. Mr. Miner and a professor of missions from the SMU School of Theology (not yet
named Perkins) came to Euless and directed the Institute. Professor Miner, a photographer and
operator of a print shop, regularly used visual aids in his sermons and classes. He explained and
encouraged mission work through slide presentations. Miss Posey did not know if he conducted
Missionary Institutes at other churches or suggested surveys of other communities like the one
at Euless. Miss Posey, an Abilene, Texas, native, graduated from McMurry College in Abilene in
1 927. She earned a Bachelor of Divinity degree at SMU in 1931 and the remainder of her life
worked with Methodist churches and institutions. She died in Abilene on February 28, 2000.
Ora Miner was born in Iowa about 1876, and his wife, Dora Foulke Miner, was born in
Pennsylvania about 1877. They married about 1898. Four of their children, according to the
1930 U.S. Census for Dallas County, were born in Pennsylvania about 1905 to 1913. Mr.
Miner first appeared in Dallas City Directories in the 1924 -25 issue as a professor at SMU
and continued to be listed in that capacity through the 1933 directory. He was still listed in the
Dallas City Directories from 1 934 through 1 938 but was no longer listed as professor. After
that he disappeared from directories, but Dora lived in Dallas until her death on December 8,
1958. I have not found a Texas death record for Ora. Further research in SMU faculty and
Methodist Church records should reveal more information about professor Miner. A better
understanding of Mr. Miner might throw more light on the background and nature of the
Missionary Institute that he conducted at the Euless Methodist Church and the Euless community
survey that he suggested in 1931.
SOME QUESTIONS:
Does anyone know anything about a "Missionary Institute" like the one at Euless in 1931?
Were similar programs conducted at other churches about the same time? I have not yet checked
the 1931 "Texas Christian Advocate" (or its successor, if it had a different name by then).
Where else might I find something about Professor Miner? I have not yet checked SMU faculty
records or Methodist records at Bridwell Library. I have not yet checked obituaries for Dora
Miner or for three of Ora and Dora's children who died in Dallas between 1948 and 1967.
In you can offer suggestions please respond to
Weldon Cannon
702 W. Nugent Ave.
Temple TX 76501
254 - 778 -6068
cannon@stonemedia.com