Dallas congregation endures
through the good and bad,
even including foreclosure
Tyler Street UMC, in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, was locked out of its building during the Depression, but ultimately was able to return to its sanctuary.
Churches that make it to their
100th anniversary aren't all that
uncommon. But Tyler Street United Methodist in Dallas deserves an extra
candle or two on the cake, given
the adversity it has overcome.
The church's Depression-era
history was on the mind of the Rev.
Ed Lantz, current pastor, at the centennial
worship service Jan. 29.
"It's a huge deal," he said. "There was a moment when we
were literally locked out of the
building."
And it happened at Easter, giving
rise to banner headlines in the
local newspapers.
Tyler Street Methodist opened in1912 in Dallas' North Oak Cliff, and within
a decade grew to more than 1,000 members.
It moved from a white frame building to
the brick substructure of its current home.
Members paid off the loan and borrowed
$120,000 to build three more floors.
Those were finished by the late
1920s, and the sanctuary became a Dallas
showcase, with spectacular stained-glass
windows made by local artisan Roger
McIntosh. Tyler Street had continued to
grow, becoming "an early mega-church,"
according to church historian and longtime
member Carla Boss.
But the stock market crash of October
1929 did a number on many Tyler Street
members. The minutes of the church show
that by 1931, leaders were deeply anxious
about their inability to meet payments on
the building.
Tyler Street UMC moved to its current location in the '20s.The St. Louis bank that held the note
threatened foreclosure late that year, and
foreclosure occurred March 1, 1932. The
church building was sold for $75,000 at a
courthouse sale. On Good Friday, a local
lawyer representing the bank took the keys
and locked out church members and staff.
The Dallas Morning News announced
the story this way: "Church closed by creditor
on Eve of Easter." (The doors were actually
padlocked on Good Friday.) The Dallas
Times Herald headline put a biblical spin on
things, claiming: "Worshippers
Driven out of Temple
by Money Lenders."
The bad publicity
caused the bank to offer to
let the church back into the
sanctuary for Easter. But
by then, Tyler Street leaders
had announced worship
would be held at the local
Rosewin Theater and felt it
was too late to change.
For months, the
congregation continued
to be a vagabond, meeting
for worship and Sunday school at other
churches, a high school, two funeral homes
and a car dealership.
By the fall of 1932, the church was
again in its building, albeit on a rental basis.
And before long, with the help of the North
Texas Conference, Tyler Street arranged
financing to acquire the building once more.
"It bounced back and found a way to
pay its bills," said the Rev. Mike Walker, a
former Tyler Street pastor who returned to
help lead the centennial service.
Tyler Street needed several more years
to own the church outright, and it had to
pay taxes accumulated during the foreclosure
period. But it continued to grow as it
stabilized financially. It would eventually
become a denominational leader in Sunday
school attendance.
"The classes were so big, they had to
buy a house across from the church," Ms.
Boss said.
Pastor Ed Lantz greets well-wishers after the service.
Metro Superintendent Clara Reed and Lantz cut the anniversary cake.But more trouble awaited Tyler Street,
including a 1957 tornado that missed the
church building but wreaked havoc in the
neighborhood and a 1966 fire that caused
significant damage to the sanctuary.
In recent decades, Tyler Street has
coped with tremendous social change in its
neighborhood, including the scattering of
many families who helped build the church.
"Being in a transitional community is
always a challenge," Rev. Walker said.
Tyler Street is much smaller than in its
heyday, but still averages about 330 in worship,
including those who attend a Spanish-language
service. It gave birth to a school,
Trinity Christian Academy, that is now
self-governing but considered a ministry extension
of the church. The church operates
Community Service Outreach, a ministry
that provides clothes and food to the needy.
"There's a spirit of serving Christ by
serving others," Rev. Lantz said.
On its centennial Sunday, Tyler Street
had a lunch for more than 400 people, with
children summoned on stage to lead in singing "Happy Birthday" to the church.
Clergy members wore special stoles for the occasion.For the worship service just before
lunch, Rev. Lantz and other clergy, including
the Rev. Clara Reed, superintendent of
the North Texas Conference's Metro District,
wore stoles with the centennial logo.
Rev. Lantz preached from Hebrews 12:1-3,
dwelling on the "great cloud of witnesses"
in both the Bible and Tyler Street's history.
"Today we stand tall, because we stand
on 100 years of faithful service," he said.
"The best thing we can do to honor the past
is make sure we have a great future."
A recent capital campaign received gifts
and pledges beyond its $295,000 goal, making
possible renovation of the children's
education building, as well as replacement
of various windows and repairs of floors.
For Betty Binion, a member for 39
years, one particular anniversary effort
sums up Tyler Street's determination to look
forward.
"We're planting trees in the back parking
lot," she said.
The Rev. Dr. Brad R. Braxton
will become the Lois Craddock
Perkins Professor of Homiletics
at 
Dr. Luke Timothy
Johnson, New Testament
professor from the Candler
School of Theology, will be
the 2012 Perkins Lecturer
on March 4-5 at 
