Our roots go deep
The township of Sealy was created circa 1879 when San Felipe, Texas, sold three leagues of land (which was part of its original 22,000 acre township) to Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad. The company surveyed a town site, and when a post office was established in 1880, named the community Sealy in honor of George Sealy who was a director of the railroad company. The settlement became a center for shipping the produce of local farmers and ranchers when the company's Galveston-Brenham spur was completed through the town.
The First United Methodist church began as the Union Church and met in a little white building on the east side of the Santa Fe Railway sometime before 1887. This building also served as a school, the second story of which was a Lodge Room.
In 1887 the congregation erected a building on the site of the Southern Methodist Church. This little red brick building stood for 40 years. In 1925, it was condemned and torn down to make room for a new structure. The bricks were preserved and were used to build the foundation for the new frame building. It was at this time that a "time capsule" was buried with the cornerstone. In a box with the cornerstone was placed: The Discipline of the Church, a membership role of that time, some coins, a bible and some personal statements. This new building included a sanctuary that seated 300, with a balcony and a basement with a fully stocked kitchen. It was in the main part of the basement that the Sunday School classes met.
At the Fall Conference of 1939 the two branches of Methodism (the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church South – of which the Southern Methodist Church was a member) merged to become known as "The Methodist Church". It was also at this time that the Peters Methodist Church and the German language Meyer's Memorial Methodist Church joined with the Southern Methodist Church - known today as the First United Methodist Church of Sealy.
In 1956 the white frame church was demolished and construction began on the present building. We eventually outgrew the existing Fellowship Hall and Sunday School spaces and a new Fellowship Hall/Sunday School building was erected and given the name Koy-Norcross Fellowship Hall. Included is our church office, kitchen and large fellowship hall, conference room, and 4 children’s Sunday School classroom.
PASTORS WHO SERVED FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
DATE SERVED PASTOR’S NAME
1951 to 1958 Arthur Williams
1958 to 1962 Horace McMillan
1962 to 1963 Jesse A. Adams
1963 to 1967 W.W. Hawthorne, Jr.
1967 to 1969 Lee Donald King
1969 to 1975 Carlton S. Dyer
1975 to 1978 W. Raye Williams
1978 to 1983 Phil Kirby
1983 to 1987 Wayne Hargraves
1987 to 1990 L. Clayton Gilpin
1990 to 1991 Sharon Watt
1992 to 1999 Danny Rinehart
1999 to 2000 Rosemary Behrens
2000 to 2003 Bill Webb
2003 to 2011 John R. Tyler
2011 to 2014 Lani Rousseau
2014 to present Curtis Matthys
The First United Methodist church began as the Union Church and met in a little white building on the east side of the Santa Fe Railway sometime before 1887. This building also served as a school, the second story of which was a Lodge Room.
In 1887 the congregation erected a building on the site of the Southern Methodist Church. This little red brick building stood for 40 years. In 1925, it was condemned and torn down to make room for a new structure. The bricks were preserved and were used to build the foundation for the new frame building. It was at this time that a "time capsule" was buried with the cornerstone. In a box with the cornerstone was placed: The Discipline of the Church, a membership role of that time, some coins, a bible and some personal statements. This new building included a sanctuary that seated 300, with a balcony and a basement with a fully stocked kitchen. It was in the main part of the basement that the Sunday School classes met.
At the Fall Conference of 1939 the two branches of Methodism (the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church South – of which the Southern Methodist Church was a member) merged to become known as "The Methodist Church". It was also at this time that the Peters Methodist Church and the German language Meyer's Memorial Methodist Church joined with the Southern Methodist Church - known today as the First United Methodist Church of Sealy.
In 1956 the white frame church was demolished and construction began on the present building. We eventually outgrew the existing Fellowship Hall and Sunday School spaces and a new Fellowship Hall/Sunday School building was erected and given the name Koy-Norcross Fellowship Hall. Included is our church office, kitchen and large fellowship hall, conference room, and 4 children’s Sunday School classroom.
PASTORS WHO SERVED FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
DATE SERVED PASTOR’S NAME
1951 to 1958 Arthur Williams
1958 to 1962 Horace McMillan
1962 to 1963 Jesse A. Adams
1963 to 1967 W.W. Hawthorne, Jr.
1967 to 1969 Lee Donald King
1969 to 1975 Carlton S. Dyer
1975 to 1978 W. Raye Williams
1978 to 1983 Phil Kirby
1983 to 1987 Wayne Hargraves
1987 to 1990 L. Clayton Gilpin
1990 to 1991 Sharon Watt
1992 to 1999 Danny Rinehart
1999 to 2000 Rosemary Behrens
2000 to 2003 Bill Webb
2003 to 2011 John R. Tyler
2011 to 2014 Lani Rousseau
2014 to present Curtis Matthys