Magnolia Avenue Christian Church was founded in 1897 as the Tabernacle Christian Church. They moved from their downtown location at 5th and Throckmorton to 950 West Magnolia Avenue in 1909 under the leadership of Dr. Edward M. Waits. Dr Waits served the Church until 1916 and then ,for 25 years, was president of Texas Christian University. It was one of the first congregations to move to the Southside to serve that growing population. The Church was formally dedicated on March 27th ,1910. The congregation was disbanded in 1983 because of dwindling membership.