FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH, McKINNEY, TEXAS, WINS THE 2026 KATE WARNICK AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN LOCAL CHURCH HISTORY – LARGE CHURCH CATEGORY

June 1, 2026

(Dallas) The Texas United Methodist Historical Society is pleased to announce that the 2026 Kate Warnick Award for Excellence in Local Church History – Large Church Category – has been awarded to First United Methodist Church McKinney, Texas: Sharing the Heart of Christ from the Heart of McKinney for 175 Years: 1851 – 1926 by Catherine Kays and Dana Clifton. First UMC McKinney is in the Horizon Texas Conference of the UMC.

First Methodist Church McKinney is one of the earliest Methodist churches in North Texas. At more than 4500 members, it is easily the largest of the Methodist churches founded the 19th century in North Texas. The church is now the subject of a well-researched history with a collection of stories, personal insights, and information unique to the congregation most not likely found anywhere else.

The church has met since 1901 in a distinctive red brick church building in downtown McKinney. A lot of church and family life has been lived in that building. The lead author of the new history, Catherine Kays, a sixth-generation member of the church, tells of her habit of touching the pews in the sanctuary remembering that they were “something my ancestors may have touched.”

The strength of the church is a strong laity. Three members of the church served as mayor of the City of McKinney, Texas. One gentleman, known as “Mr. Sunday School,” served as Sunday school superintendent for over 50 years. A father and son team served as scoutmasters of the church’s Boy Scout Troop from the 1920s to the 1950s. There is a wonderful story of a man who gave the church its distinctive bell and a clipping from the local paper that said the man was “a rich bachelor and ought to marry.”

Typical of vibrant Methodist churches, the core source of strength is among the female members. Female notables include a benefactor of the new sanctuary in 1901, the sponsor of missionary work both in McKinney and Africa, and a stalwart who “volunteered whether you asked her to volunteer or not.” Kays slyly notes, “While my male ancestors were members of the church in most cases, the women were active and the nurturers of family faith.”

The church has been led by strong clergy, including such Methodist legends as the father of the murderous preacher’s kid, John Wesley Hardin; George Slaughter Gatewood, who led services at the Preacher’s Rock inside of Mammoth Cave, Kentucky; and Rev. C. C. Young, who founded the CC Young retirement home for Methodist ministers in Dallas. More current notables include James Dorff, senior pastor from 1994 to 2001, who served as a Bishop in the UMC from 2008 to 2015, and Kathy McLean-Davis, the longest serving female elder.

“The new history of First UMC McKinney is a refreshing testimony to the joy of church life,” said Kent Roberts, the chair of the TUMHS’s Kate Warnick Award committee. “In a hundred ways, the authors document what made and makes First Church unique in the lives of the congregation.”

As winner of the Kate Warnick Award, First United Methodist Church McKinney, Texas: Sharing the Heart of Christ from the Heart of McKinney for 175 Years: 1851 – 1926 will be kept in the

Archives of the Horizon Texas Conference, at Bridwell Library at Southern Methodist University and in the denomination’s Methodist Library, currently at Drew University.

The Texas United Methodist Historical Society established the Kate Warnick Awards in 1978 to encourage the publication of exemplary local church histories within the five Annual Conferences of the United Methodist Church that constitute the Texas United Methodist Historical Society: Horizon Texas, Rio Texas, Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma Indian Mission.

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