The first known record of a Christian (Disciples of Christ) church in Tyler appears in an 1859 deed that secured title to property where a red brick sanctuary was built. With the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, the fellowship was disbanded. For two decades Tyler had no active Disciples of Christ congregation, although a few members continued to conduct a bible school. In 1889, J.J. Lockhart, state evangelist for the Texas Christian Missionary Society, held a meeting in the Albertson Opera House, and a new church was organized. The congregation met in a tabernacle on West Erwin Street but lacked a full-time minister until 1906, when the Rev. J.J. Lockhart returned to Tyler and became pastor. From 1889, membership grew, two additional sanctuaries were built, a Sunday school was organized, a women's missionary auxiliary was formed, and youth activities were added. A large number of ministers and missionaries came from this church, which throughout its history played an important role in the community and in the Disciples of Christ brotherhood.