Christian Church Historical Marker Dedication March 31

EAGLE LAKE — Living Hope Church, Joe and Mercy Fling Pastors, invite the community to the Texas Historical Marker dedication ceremony for the Eagle Lake Christian Church, Sunday, March 31, at 2 p.m. at the Church sanctuary at the corner of Church Street and North McCarty Avenue in Eagle Lake.

The Christian Church was among the earliest congregations in Eagle Lake. The building of the Christian Church, from 1888, remains. It is still active today, as Living Hope Church. It is the last of the early historic church buildings in Eagle Lake.

The Christian Church building and grounds were on the site of what was called by the Eagle Lake Headlight, the “Greatest Revival in the History of Eagle Lake,” July 1- 16, 1911. It was jointly held by the Christian Church, and the Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian congregations. It was open to all. Revival Meetings were held in the Christian Church Sanctuary, in the mornings; and under the large tent on the church grounds, in the evenings. For the two-week revival, downtown businesses closed from 10:00 a.m. until noon, so that both customers and employees could attend during the day. At the end of each week, the Eagle Lake Headlight printed front-page reports naming those making commitments to Christ. There were over 400 professed salvations of souls at the revival, mostly united with the four churches, and many by baptism. The Christian Church baptistry was also used for some.

The revival leader, in 1911, was the famous evangelist, Mordecai F. Ham, who, at a revival in Charlotte, North Carolina, later in 1934, was the evangelist who first brought his protégée, the young Billy Graham, to Christ. Graham was only sixteen, and continued in the footsteps of Ham as a famous evangelist. In addition to the 400 conversions at the revival in Eagle Lake in July, 1911, Ham went on to convert over 400,000 people to Christianity during his career.

This historic building has been the home of Living Hope Church since Easter Sunday, 1991. The new church was founded by Pastors Joe and Mercy Fling, who have successfully led the church services, Bible School, classes, and other programs. The original Christian Church building stands proudly as the oldest original historic church building in the town. In this dedication the church honors the heritage of the people of faith who have gone before.