HISTOHY

Of

UNION CI'l'Y METHODIST CHURCH

TEl m Tl!: HISTORY t1IO J C Y'",,-,_ HO'JISI' Cl-1URCH

A true hist ory of nion City T'ethodist C urc cennot be wr Otten uri il

muc' research has been conducted, former p stors end members contacted end

irrtervie\"led, old reccrds found 811d utilized. For these reesonr:, t,his brief

st~t ep'errt of the }list ory of t he Church is at best only t eme+ ive.

According i;(I) information received from the Rev. H. C. Emory, \Yho

organized t e Church, he !l1['de the first move t owprd onganizint"1' Cl"urch

in Union City in 1910 soon after he 'las appointed' astor of the Ff'irburn

Circuit. Brot11r Emory recognized tre need for churc in the thriving

to m of' Union City, then ve. y rouch live because of the business of the

old Ferr.ers' Union ~ hich once had it 8 nat ional he dquart ers in thi8 pIece. Emory

Thus the n rne--Union City. Brother/came to Unicn City in 191 or in the

spring of 1911, set up a tent near the tlanta and rest Po:irrt qailroed

ne r the preserrt sit e of the ~d. 1. Green Co., end conducted e revivel.

At the close of the meeting he called toget ler t. ose :'Tho had been con­

veried and those VI 0 had sho,7ed by the~r regular 8tt~ndal1ce and prcyers

their loyalty, and for1!lerly organized a J etllodist Church at Pnion City.

T e c1 erier members nu. bered forty-four of -,1 ich t\"70--1 rs. J. T. Braswell

and ~·rs. Paul S. Bsrrett--ere st ill members of t e Churc • Some of tt>e

f3I:li1y n'Jr"es of J. e c 1 rter e bers 'ore: C8rr'ic£ll, (bies, Patton, Upchurc ,

res Tell, ~~d ~endrix.

nne reason for a lack of inf orn::et. ° on ebout Union City l'ethodist Church

is the feet t. 1St unt"l 1951 it 88 on a circu~t, erd was cont!ll1uolly being

S\1itc ed from one circuit J· o eno+}1er itrout eny thought ~oward keeping

accurate records on individu.al churches. Tre Conference Journals ~re of

little help in tr'cing t e C urch's h~story for t.his reason.

,t .

---~---

--2-­

T.'e fo110\l jng is 8 Ijst of the rast ors 'Tho hove ~erved Unjon City

'et ocUst C urch and the. eers of their terrore:

r H. C. Emory 1910-14

C ~rles L. Bass lC?14-15

John Spier In6

Cash 1917-19

D. p. Helson, Jr. 1919-20

George E. Sv. ers 1921-23

Henry I. Bullock 1924

J. D. Bass 1925

J. E. Statham 1925-26

• C. ~cPherson 1926-27

L. pradley 1928

H. Gardner 1928-29

Rev. Bright 1929

J. D. S\7agerty 1930

B. P. Read 1931

• H. Rcyal 1931-32

y. A. lila Hey 1932

.• 1'. Rogers 1933-34

Grover Kno 'les 1935

Hubert Dodd 193n-~7

L. G. Cousrt 1938

T. L. Rutland 1939-41

T. S. ill 1942-44

--3-­

v. V. !ill 1944

A. J. Gilliam 1944, C. "l" . Hughes 1944-46.

Comer Bro\7nlor 194 -47

11. • Jackson 1947-48

"Ta lt er Cross 1948-49

.~ illiam Lyons 1949-50

.....alt er C. Ban Ie 1950-51

Toombs • Kay, Jr. 1951----­

T_16 liates listed for the }-E'storates v;ould teke a good deal of

exrlenat ion. So e of he: [I s+ ors uid nat serve an ent ire year, one

serv:in as little E'S two mont s.

rnion City !'ethodist Church has ad bad and ood days. In the

more d:fficult days of its history it 'as once considered }.r8ctjcel1y

rdead 2nd one of its merbers offered to buy it so tlwt tre buHd:in

\7culd oi be a C omplet e loss. But t ere \. er e "bbose rho ,"oule. not

""'ive u , \"lho con;inued to r:;eet to["8 er, to s:i.n , rray, ~1"d Fors ip.

1'. eir rreserv"nce has been re arded menyfold by the ne\'l life 110\7

t hrobin in t he church ~-roe:ram.

In 1950-51 the avercZe ettendarce at t e C urcl> Sc 001 nss 72.

Today it :'Jill average almost 10". The me bership of the church con­

t:':nues to grow. In leSO-51 thirty-five ne\! r::!e:bers ,""ere added to the

churc 1. In 1951-52 twenty- six came into the n8nbersh 'p. \8 of ray 1,

1953, fort neu members "'vc been received. '::1'e resident merbers .i: is

150 todE', .nd the: total 1e bership is 177. tTOs~.ects are alr"ost un­

Ii lit ed.

--4-­

'T'he hysicel }-lFlrt of the C urch includes t he House of -'ors'iF \/ ichJ.

is Elf. I resent undergojn@" extensive rel irs. In 1947 e 12,000.(1 Educ8­

tionrl ,-lont \":8S errec ed. o rever, the equ ip ~ent is 8 rdly ad equat e

for tho present, ~nd e Church ~,ill most certe:.'nly :reve to consider new

buildinf" plans in the next fer yecrs.

The ChlT c became a' studerrt stat ion in 1951. It has no I crsor p.:e,

but II nf ere bdnp- laid -Co construct one :in 'che very near future. T1 e

fre::ent bud et is 4200.0n. '1'he C urch iE' ex eriencing no difficulty in

r[':isin'- hot mount, flus (1500.00 outside the bl~dget for extra lur:.oses.

i7rom t).,e above COI'ir'lEmt s, :it is ep. arent \"Thy t i he s been t er ed a

tentet ive h:" story of Union Cit et hodist Church. The COI'l1"itt ee on T-fist cry

and qecords saIl cortinue to lebor -l het 8 more corn:lete end Bccur t e

hi story ray be \"TriJ-ten and }.ubli:?hed.

_ey 11, 1953