A crowd of faithful friends joined together Saturday, April 29 for the 140th anniversary of Laurel Street United Methodist Church.
The celebration included a worship service in the historic sanctuary; a cake cutting, singing and ice cream social in the fellowship hall and storytelling into the evening.
The service featured a special devotion by the United Methodist North and West District Superintendent Rev. Danny Tenney who traveled in for the celebration.
Michelle Stone presented ‘The Story of God’s People’ while soloist Angela Boles-Reed performed “Amazing Grace.” Cheryl Purdy Hallum presented the prelude while Rev. Dean Reed offered the welcome and Rev. Kenneth Lunsford assisted with other aspects of the service.
The church’s history can be traced back to the 1870s near the Purves community. On Jan. 28, 1879, Methodist Pastor Croker Capell and his wife, Mary, deeded property on Resley Creek to the trustees of the Oak Grove school.
The site served as the church for several denominations including Methodists, Presbyterians and Missionary and Hardshell Baptists. The congregations took turns in leadership with Methodists handling the second Sunday of every month.
On Dec. 28, 1883, J.H. and Dora Bynum donated five acres of land to newly elected trustees of the Bynum MethodistEpiscopalChurch, which was in the Stephenville District of the Northwest Texas Conference, Fort Worth Episcopal Area. Bynum Methodists held services under a brush arbor until a church building was installed on the grounds in the early 1890s. The first meeting was 1.5 miles north of the Purves community.
The Bynum Methodist Church moved its building to Purves in 1901-02 and met there until 1904 when it was sold to the Primitive Baptist church.
On Jan. 16, 1904, J.C. and N.J. Alexander deed 1.5 acres of land to trustees of the Purves Methodist Episcopal Church. The new site on the John Harmon Survey allowed for the construction of a larger, more modern building with a steeple and a bell. The congregation met in this building until 1939 when a cyclone destroyed it. (The faithful immediately set to the construction of a new building, which now serves as the Laurel Street UMC.)
In1910,PurvesMethodists joined the newly organized Central Texas Conference. It remain part of this conference until 1939 when the Methodist Episcopal Church, South and MEC, North joined with the Methodist Protestant Church to become The Methodist Church.
The site was officially renamed The Purves Methodist Church until 1962 when the congregation became the Laurel Street Methodist Church under Rev. Lloyd Sanders when it was moved to South Laurel Street in Dublin. Its last name change came in 1968 when The Methodist Church merged with the Evangelical United Brethren Church to become The United Methodist Church. Since then, The Laurel Street United Methodist Church has been meeting at its current site.
The facility was enhanced through the years including the addition of the Wilma Davis Fellowship Hall in 2004.
The road to Laurel Street UMC’s 140th anniversary was marked with several moves and name changes but the big heart of the little church ensured a legacy that has lasted.
Laurel Street United Methodist Church meets each Sunday 9:30 a.m. and is located at 504 Laurel Street in Dublin.