For 200 years, Wesley Chapel United Methodist Church has stood as “the church on the hill” for the glory of God and in service to Him, to the people in the Wesley Chapel Road area and to the entire Putnam community, according to one of its members. The church is celebrating its bicentennial anniversary on Sunday, Oct. 2.
When it began in 1822, Wesley Chapel UMC was known as “Elizabeth Church,” named in honor of a little girl who asked her father to build a church nearby so she could walk to it alone, if necessary. According to The Eatonton Messenger newspaper archives and a WCUMC history essay written by Maribel Franklin, a lifelong member of the church, that little girl was the daughter of the church’s first minister, the Reverend William Henry Rogers. She later became Elizabeth Roger Knowles.
The early families who worshipped at that first church built of logs were the Ashfields, Bryants, Carnes, Griffins, Haskins, Johns, Knowles, McNatts, Dents, Denhams, Turners, Weems, Wilsons, Rossees, and others. The name was changed from Elizabeth to Wesley Chapel Methodist Church in 1880 when a second building was erected on Carter Dearman Road. The new name honored the founder of Methodism, John Wesley.
“This white, one-room building is the one so many of us remember as the church we attended as children,” Franklin wrote.
“It was heated by a woodstove in the winter. Mr.
Newt Wilson built the fire in the old woodstove for 50 years.”
Because of the one-room building, Sunday school classes in those days were held outside under the trees in the summer, and in cars parked in front of the church during winter and inclement weather.
Although services were held at the church every Sunday, only the second Sunday of the month had preaching, as the church shared an itinerant minister with other Methodist churches in its circuit.
As its membership grew, a dream formed of a larger building with Sunday school classrooms inside. Members began to raise funds in every possible way including donations, pledges, bake sales, and barbecue sales.
“The church became famous for its barbecue and stew sold at cow sales throughout the county,” Franklin said. “If there was an event where cakes or barbecue could be sold, Wesley Chapel people were usually there.”
The land for the new building was donated by Mrs. W. N. Knowles in exchange for the property where the old church stood, next-door to the current one. In 1953, the members’ dream was realized in the red brick building up on the hill that is lit up at night, making it shine brightly to travelers along the Sparta Highway.
The church’s history includes 48 pastors who served there before the members petitioned the UMC District Superintendent for their own, full-time pastor.
In 1999, the first fulltime pastor, Rev. Doug Chamlee, was appointed.
Four full-time ministers have followed him. The current pastor, Dr. James Smith, has served since 2012. The church’s small congregation continues to thrive with Sunday school and casual, country- church style services held every Sunday morning.
The community, especially anyone with connections to WCUMC’s history, is invited to join the congregation on Sunday, Oct. 2 at 11 a.m. for its bicentennial celebration, Smith said. In the spirit of the members’ former fundraising days of the 1950s, a barbecue dinner will be held outside under a tent immediately after the service.
Wesley Chapel Church is located at 420 Sparta Highway, Eatonton. For more information, call 678-523-5205.