wfn.org | Chapel becomes first United Methodist church chartered in new

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century

Jan. 11, 2000  News media contact: Tim Tanton·(615)742-5470·Nashville, Tenn.
10-21-71B{015}

By Andy Ellis*

BON SECOUR, Ala. (UMNS) - The dawn of a new year always brings with it the
opportunity for a new beginning. And few understand that better than the 48
charter and 21 affiliate and associate members of Morgan Chapel United
Methodist Church.

After sitting empty for almost 30 years, this small Baldwin County, Ala.,
church began anew on New Year's Eve, becoming the first United Methodist
church in the Western Hemisphere and possibly the world to be chartered in
the new millennium. The service concluded shortly after 6 p.m. CST,
coinciding with midnight Greenwich Mean Time.

The church, which got its start in 1922, fell on rough times after choosing
not to take part in the merger of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the
Methodist Episcopal Church South and the Methodist Protestant Church in
1939. While the congregation was still permitted to use the property,
membership slowly dwindled and the church eventually closed.

Last year, nearby Orange Beach United Methodist Church launched an effort to
reopen Morgan Chapel and took the matter to Pensacola District
Superintendent Charles Avery.

"We introduced the idea in April, and we received a great response and a lot
of support from the district superintendent," said the Rev. Richard Brooks,
pastor of Orange Beach, who will take on, at least temporarily, the
preaching chores at the new church. "The district gave a grant that paid for
a new roof."

Led by Mabel Anderson, descendant of some of the church's founders and
charter member of the new church, a volunteer effort to renovate the
building began on Memorial Day weekend. 

"People of the community were very interested," Brooks said. "A lot of the
Orange Beach church members came out to help. When we first began, there
were vines growing up through the windows and inside the building. It is
amazing to look at this building tonight and know what it looked like when
we started."
Church members and community volunteers also cut away vines, trees and weeds
from the church's cemetery, which had become overgrown through the years.

The church received one blessing after another as they sought to renovate
the building, Brooks said.

"Both the plumbing and electrical work were done for us free of charge,"
Brooks said. "We had a service at the church on July 4, and the pastor (the
Rev. Raymond C. Christian) from Little Zion (United Methodist Church) came
and brought a donation."

Little Zion, a recent project of the Pensacola District, donated pews for
the new church. Other area churches gave light fixtures, folding chairs and
other supplies for Morgan Chapel.

The new church began holding regular worship services on Oct. 24.

Alabama-West Florida Bishop William Morris was grateful to the Orange Beach
church and others who were involved with the project.

"When you look at this building tonight and see what it once was, this is
indeed a second chance and a new beginning," Morris told those who gathered
for the chartering service. "Even though we have all these challenges, the
church, the people of God, will always be around. You had a building, but
you didn't have a church until the people of God gathered here for worship.

"You don't get many second chances in life," he continued. "God has given
you a second chance, a new beginning. Take advantage of it."

Morris said the effort to reopen Morgan Chapel is "heartwarming."

"It shows that we haven't given up on the community," he said. "This is an
example of what we need to be doing more of - a church growing a church.
This is what the Methodist Church in the Philippines does so effectively.
The Orange Beach people enabled this to happen. I hope that we can see this
happen in some other areas as well."

Anderson, who originally brought the idea to her congregation at Orange
Beach, has fond childhood memories of Morgan Chapel. "This church has been
on my heart and mind for years," she said, noting her excitement at finally
seeing her dream to reopen the church realized.

Morgan Odom, who, like Anderson, was a member of the former Morgan Chapel
congregation, presented the list of charter members of the new congregation
to Brooks during the chartering service.

"It means a lot" to see the church reopened, Odom said. "My daddy helped to
build this church. This has always been my church. I have never been a
member of another one."
# # #
* Ellis is director of communications for the United Methodist Church's
Alabama-West Florida Annual Conference.

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United Methodist News Service
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