History of Concord UMC

from the research of Doris Welch Swindle

In 1869 Ruben White in consideration of his desire to promote The Methodist Church South, deeded to trustees:  Henry Welch, Corry Pettigrew, George W. Smith, John Coates, and Nicholas D. White, David N. Scott, and George W. Harrell two acres of land build a church.  A log building was constructed (30’ x 40’) of native poplar logs.  The building was used for worship and for a few years as a school.

Since 1869 a lot of improvements have been made.  In the early 1900’s the outside was covered with weatherboarding.  The original building had 2 front doors.  One door was for the ladies and the other for the men.  They then sat on opposite sides of the church instead of the family sitting together.  When the length was added the single door became the entrance. In 1952 the building had 12’ added to the length for classrooms as well as covering the exterior with brick.  New pews replaced the standard benches in 1960.  Solid stain glass windows, and carpet  were added in 1964.

In 1972 a 24’ x 40’ fellowship hall was added with 2 bathrooms and a kitchen.  In the 70’s the pews were padded as well as carpet and an altar drape with a large cross.  Many of the improvements in recent years have been the results of love offerings given in memory of past members.  In 1988 a steeple was added and in 1995 the windows in the two front doors were replaced by stain glass.   In 1996 the windows through out the church were replaced with stain glass with beautiful scenes.

In 142 years we have had 65 ministers.  In the first 50 years we had circuit riders who traveled a long distant bring the Word to the small churches.    A minister was not there every Sunday. The Church celebrated 100 years of church service in 1969 with Rev. Charles Leist as our pastor.  He rode in on a pony such as the circuit riders did many years ago.

A minister is shared with Mt. Carmel and Mt. Lebanon Methodist churches.  Concord has service every Sunday at 9:00 AM with Sunday school at 10:00.   In 2012 the pastor is Rev. Cathy Oakes.  Over the years many prayers of been uttered and many souls have been saved in the little country church and by the Grace of God it will continue to be a beacon in the community.

 

 

 

Ministers

Year(s) of Service	Minister	Year(s) of Service	Minister
1869	W. D. Stayton	1930-31	A. N. Walker
1870-73	R. R Nelson	1932-34	W. H. Perigen
1874-76	William Hay	1935-36	F. A. Flatt
1877	F.  B. Davis	1937	W. F. Cooley
1878	T. J. McGill	1938	W. T. Garner
1879-80	William Hay	1939-40	W. M. Vaughn
1881-82	L. P. Ramsey	1941-42	A. L. Mays
1883	R. S. Swift	1943-45	J. T. Walker
1884-85	T. L. Adams	1946-48	C. E. Stewart
1886	H. D. Overton	1949	S. L. Parham
1887-90	J. H. Garrett	1950	O. H. Lafferty
1891	J. H. Felty	1953	Wayne McClain
1892	J.E. Treadwell	1954-55	W. S. Malners
1893	William Murray	1956-58	John Clark
1894-97	J. L. Weaver	1959	V.W. Dungan
1898	W. A. Cook	1960-61	Eddie Walton
1899-1900	R. P. Witt	1962-63	Jerry Hassell
1901	J. B. Knight	1964-65	Jerry Bell
1902	W. F. Acuff	1965	D. W. Carlisle
1903	W. D. Dunn	1965-70	Charles Leist
1904	D. C. Johnson	1970-71	Jack Dickerson
1905-06	A. H. Dulaney	1972-73	Horace Melton
1907	E. W. Crump	1973-78	James Cotham
1908	T. E. Foust	1979	Rippy
1909-10	W. D. Simons	1979-80	Cook
1911-12	F. B. Jones	1981-82	Coke
1913-15	W. H. Collins	1982-85	Robert Tripp
1916	J. E. James	1985-88	Pam McDaniel
1917-18	T. E. Calhoun	1989-93	Marty Arnold
1919	E. R. Roach	1994	Judy Wolfgang
1920-24	O. H. Lafferty	1995-2008	Gary Drum
1925	E. L. Ledbetter	2008-10	Bob Sadler
1926-27	T. N.Wilks	2010-present	Cathy Oakes
1928-29	J. F. Morelock