East Dallas Christian Church started in 1903 when eight women who were active in the Central Christian Church downtown decided they needed a church in their community. They formed a ladies aid society and started fundraising for the church. Their first fundraiser, a tea in a member’s home, netted a whopping $7, Pioneers of Dallas County reported.

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The first formal meeting was in September at the home of jeweler Arthur A. Everts. Everts and his wife were active in the Christian Church and helped plant other churches in the East Dallas area.

The congregation purchased a lot at Victor and Peak streets. The men then built a one-room tabernacle in a month. The outside was gray with bright green wallpaper within. A galvanized tin baptistry was located under the pulpit, and it was filled with buckets of water from a nearby home.

The Rev. John A. Stevens of Mississippi preached the first service Nov. 15. More than 100 people attended Bible school, and 65 adults became charter members. By 1907, membership had quadrupled to 298.

They moved their frame building to the corner of Peak and Junius streets, where the church still stands today. The streets were unpaved, and the men built a footbridge to cover the mud that formed after every heavy rain, so no one could use the weather as an excuse not to go to church.