A visit to the Glenn Davis Memorial Methodist Church in Dozier, West Texas, February 2014. Dozier is a small town SE of Shamrock TX and about 60 miles E of Amarillo. It was a typical small town in an area of very large ranches, in its heyday it had two churches, a school house, a couple of stores and a workshop. Today these all appear to be closed and there was only one occupied house that we could see (and avoid).
This was a very swift visit to the Glenn Davis Memorial Methodist Church which appeared to have been closed for several years, the building was 'posted' however as is often the case out here in the country the doors were not locked. Photos taken with a Pentax X-5 'bridge' camera.
Starting with a view of the front of the church. This was never a wealthy area and the church is of a very functional design with a corrugated tin roof and metal panels over wooden walls:
There was a church hall at the back of the building and this was the view of that area
:
The next smaller room had a table and some cupboards:
This small poster was laid out on the table: 'Smile, God loves you'.
Also on the table gathering dust, the Cokesbury Worship Hymnal:
In the next room there was a set of wooden racks still containing what seemed to be A3 sized cards with biblical scenes on them:
One of the cards - 'The Carpenter Shop':
A bookshelf on the other side of the room:
Awaiting the next reader:
Plastic flower posies and paint pots:
There were no obvious signs of vandalism however someone had been looking to see what was there, these pamphlets were scattered around on the floor:
I loved this globe which clearly had seen better days:
Looking over me...
Views of the actualchurch. The altar has been removed, most likely when the church was decommissioned, some of the ceiling tiles have fallen:
I love things like this:
And here is the problem. Way out here in rural West Texas the population is declining. Ranches are getting larger and more 'efficient' and need fewer workers, local businesses have died, children are bussed to a school in the next large town, it is no trouble to drive to nearby Shamrock. The Glenn Davis Memorial Methodist Church could not survive with a regular congregation of just 6 to 8 people and accordingly their 'offering' to the Methodist Church would not cover the cost of a visiting minister or the upkeep of the church. So the Glenn Davis Memorial Methodist Church has died:
My final photo, the offering plate was still there:
This was a very swift visit to the Glenn Davis Memorial Methodist Church which appeared to have been closed for several years, the building was 'posted' however as is often the case out here in the country the doors were not locked. Photos taken with a Pentax X-5 'bridge' camera.
Starting with a view of the front of the church. This was never a wealthy area and the church is of a very functional design with a corrugated tin roof and metal panels over wooden walls:
There was a church hall at the back of the building and this was the view of that area
:
The next smaller room had a table and some cupboards:
This small poster was laid out on the table: 'Smile, God loves you'.
Also on the table gathering dust, the Cokesbury Worship Hymnal:
In the next room there was a set of wooden racks still containing what seemed to be A3 sized cards with biblical scenes on them:
One of the cards - 'The Carpenter Shop':
A bookshelf on the other side of the room:
Awaiting the next reader:
Plastic flower posies and paint pots:
There were no obvious signs of vandalism however someone had been looking to see what was there, these pamphlets were scattered around on the floor:
I loved this globe which clearly had seen better days:
Looking over me...
Views of the actualchurch. The altar has been removed, most likely when the church was decommissioned, some of the ceiling tiles have fallen:
I love things like this:
And here is the problem. Way out here in rural West Texas the population is declining. Ranches are getting larger and more 'efficient' and need fewer workers, local businesses have died, children are bussed to a school in the next large town, it is no trouble to drive to nearby Shamrock. The Glenn Davis Memorial Methodist Church could not survive with a regular congregation of just 6 to 8 people and accordingly their 'offering' to the Methodist Church would not cover the cost of a visiting minister or the upkeep of the church. So the Glenn Davis Memorial Methodist Church has died:
My final photo, the offering plate was still there: