09/20/2025
In July 1919, something remarkable happened in Fort Worth. Our pastor at the time, Rev. Clovis Chappell, was invited to lead revival services at Stop Six Methodist Church — a historically Black congregation on the southeast side of the city.
The name Stop Six itself comes from the old Interurban trolley line; it was the sixth stop where Black riders could get off when traveling out of Fort Worth. By 1919, it had grown into a strong and vibrant Black community with its own schools, churches, and traditions.
Polytechnic Heights, on the other hand, was a growing white community on the hill — with our church at its center. To see a white pastor from Poly preaching at Stop Six in that moment of history is significant. It was the very summer remembered as the Red Summer, when racial violence erupted across the country. Yet here in Fort Worth, at least for one week, a bridge was being built between communities through revival preaching and song.
The newspaper clipping even highlights the music led by Mrs. W. C. Harris and the Stop Six choir as the “chief attraction” of the meetings. Music has always been a place where God’s Spirit breaks down walls, and that was true then as well.
Today, as Polytechnic UMC continues as part of the Meadowbrook family, it’s worth remembering these moments of connection across racial lines — fragile and imperfect as they may have been. They remind us of our calling to be a people who build bridges, tell the truth about our history, and keep working toward God’s vision of reconciliation.
(Image: Fort Worth Star-Telegram clipping, July 2, 1919 — “Revival Launched at Stop 6 Church by Poly Minister”)
