Douglas Memorial
Christian Methodist Episcopal Church
Worship God, Love People, Change the World
Our Pastor
Rev. Christopher Neal Sr.
For 28 years Reverend Chris Neal Sr. has been teaching and leading people to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. He is a husband, a father, a teacher, a mentor, and most importantly he is a man that loves God and His word.
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Rev. Neal has served in the the Christian Methodist Episcopal (C.M.E.) Church since he was a child. No matter the call, no matter the place, Rev. Neal has always been a willing servant of God, committed to his call as it says in Isaiah 6:8 “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
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Rev. Neal obediently came to Douglas Memorial CME Church with the very same willingness found in Isaiah 6:8. Rev. Neal has always served with the intention to Love God, Love People and Serve the World.
What We Believe
We believe in God, the Father Almighty, is the Creator of Heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son Our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into Hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, and he sits at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting.
our history
On December 16, 1870, 41 former slaves met in Jackson, TN to form and found a church of their own unique experience. Out of the segregated and white controlled Methodist Episcopal Church South (MES) was born the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in America. Ten years later a group of 70 faithful Methodist in Southeast Texas gathered to form a church in Beaumont, TX and named it Sherman Chapel CME. The church would meet in different locations until Pastor N. Moore purchased property at 1880 Pine Street in 1907.
Sherman Chapel served the Pine Street Community in that building until 1923 when a Brick Building was erected, and the name changed to Douglas Memorial CME Church in honor of Rev. J. H. Douglas who was currently serving as Pastor. In 1954 the church founded by former slaves recognized that designation of race within our name did not coincide with the call for equality and inclusion that was the
battle cry of the Civil Rights Movement. Consequently, the General Conference agreed unanimously to change the name of the church from ‘colored to Christian.’ Thus, we became the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in America.
By the early 1980’s the membership and work of the church had outgrown the building on Pine Street. In 1984 a new site was purchase, and a new facility was built at our current location of 1370 Ewing St.
For over 140 years the Douglas Memorial CME Church has served the community of Beaumont, TX and has been a beacon of hope and help to any who desire to have a relationship with Jesus Christ.