The church began
with the donation of forty acres by Jessie C. Holbrook for religious purposes in
the 1839. This donation was made for the shoeing of a horse. The deed says it
sold for $20.00. The original 40 acres was all together with the “old” road
going around beside the now cemetery, where a one-room schoolhouse used to sit
behind the church cemetery.
The first church was built in circa. 1840. There is no
record of how long this building was used. It is thought by some of the older
members that the present building was built after 1865 and before 1883. It is
believed that the Civil War which began in 1861 had some effect on the church
membership as some of the young men had to join in the fighting. Our Historian,
Ovelle Echols, great-grand parents were members during the Civil War.
It began as Macedonia Methodist Episcopal and changed to
Macedonia Methodist Church South in 1844, Macedonia Methodist Church in 1939 and
Macedonia United Methodist Church in 1969.
District changes occurred as well, beginning as Cherokee
Circuit, Marietta in 1883 with eight other churches, Liverpool Circuit in 1901
with fie other churches and Holbrook Circuit in 1911 with fie other churches,
with five other churches. The church went full time in 1986 with Jerry Sims as
the student pastor.
The present building has gone through several changes,
beginning as a one room structure with two front doors and a roof made from hand
cut wooden shingles. Current pews were purchased circa 1965. Sunday School
classrooms were added and a porch built on the front with a Fellowship Hall,
kitchen, bathrooms and a steeple added later. The interior has been remodeled
several times with new padding for the pews, carpet and a choir loft added in
1988.
The family of William E. Purcell donated the bricks for
the church exterior in 1972. The new brick parsonage was built and first
occupied by the Rev. Sam Matthew who came to the church in June 1972.
In 1983, an organ was purchased for the church sanctuary.
It is believed that Sunday school started the early 1900’s
organized by Mr. Peter Cobb who was superintendent for 48 years. There were
four classes, all held in the sanctuary. An annual all day Sunday School
Celebration was held on a Saturday with several other churches, with games,
music and food. Down through the years this celebration was changed to Sunday
school Rally Day, held on the fourth Sunday in August. The theme of the Rally
Day programs were more spiritually oriented than in the past with each Sunday
School depicting what they were doing and leaning, followed by dinner on the
grounds.
In 1960 Vacation Bile School was started under the
direction of Rev. John Ozley and is now an annual affair.
The youth of the church was first organized as the Epworth
League in 1922 under the direction of Rev. Fred Ray who was the pastor of both
Macedonia and Orange Churches. Today this group is known as the United Methodist
Youth Fellowship. In 1978, under the direction of Rev. Billy Boggs the
Macedonia UMYF was organized.
The women of the church were first organized as the
Women’s Missionary Society in 1922 under the direction of Rev. Fred Ray. This
did not last very long due to the lack of interest by the ladies of the church.
In 1970, the name was changed to United Methodist Women. This group
participates in studying the Bible and the problems in various countries
throughout the world and serves the church in numerous ways.
In 1981, the Macedonia United Methodist Men’s Fellowship
was founded and chartered. Although a small group of men was in attendance at
that first meeting, each man present was interested in continuing this Christian
fellowship.
Mission have been served in a variety of programs
throughout the years. We support MUST of Cherokee County, the Methodist
Children’s Home and conference-sponsored programs through our apportionments.
The third Sunday in May was known as Memorial Day. The
members of the church and the community who had passed in the past year were
remembered this day. In 1980 it was changed to Homecoming Day.
In 1989 we had “Old Timers Day”. This was an all day
service with everyone dressed in overalls, hats, long dresses, and bonnets.
Pastors from past years were invited, lunch at the Youth Building and singing at
the church for the remainder of the day.
In the late 1990’s we acquired new table and chairs for
our Sunday school rooms, a baby grand piano, stained glass windows in the
sanctuary, new roofing and painting of the Fellowship Hall and parsonage and
choir robes.
