History
First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Arlington, Texas was established by William Henry Wright who was a traveling evangelist who established more than 70 Disciples of Christ congregations in Texas. Initially, he met in a store front with a handful of citizens. In August of 1892, the church built its first building. Throughout the early days of our history, we were led by committed lay leaders called Elders. The church continues to thrive because of the dedicated leadership of trusted members.
In 1914, the church called our first resident minister, Patrick Henry, Sr. In 1948, the church called our first full-time pastor, Arthur Wegner. Through the 1950's and 1960's the church grew steadily as Arlington Grew. We moved to our present location at 910 S. Collins in 1957 under the leadership of Rev. Tom Youngblood.
In 1967, we called Dr. Art Digby to serve as pastor. He served here for 25 years. During that time, the church witnessed its most significant growth not just in terms of numbers but in terms of leadership within the community, the establishment of other churches, service to Arlington's needs, and expansion of pastoral care, Christian education, and broadcast ministries.
Since Dr. Digby's retirement in 1992, the church has had two pastors: Dr. Bill Smythe and our current pastor Dr. Andy Mangum. We are grateful for the many fine Senior Ministers and Associate Ministers who have blessed this church but the heart and soul of the church remains our members as a whole and our faithful lay leaders.