First Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ)
​ of Tyler

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Marker No: 7727

27 x 42 Aluminum Subject Marker 

Geographic: 32° 18.215′ N, 95° 18.002′ W

Location: 4202 South Broadway Avenue, Tyler

Marker Text: The first known record of a Christian (Disciples of Christ) Church in Tyler appears in an 1859 deed that secured title to property on which a red brick sanctuary was built. With the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, the fellowship was disbanded. For two decades Tyler had no active Disciples of Christ congregation, although a few of the members continued to conduct a bible school.
    In 1889, J.J. Lockhart, who was state evangelist for the Texas Christian Missionary Society, held a meeting in the Albertson Opera House, and a new church was organized. The congregation met in a tabernacle on West Erwin Street but was without a full-time minister until 1906, when the Rev. J.J. Lockhart returned to Tyler and became the pastor.
    From 1889, the membership grew, and two additional sanctuaries were built, a Sunday school was organized, a women's missionary auxiliary was formed, and youth activities were added. A large number of ministers and missionaries have come from this church.
​ Throughout its history, the First Christian Church of Tyler has played an important role in the community and in the Disciples of Christ brotherhood. (1984)