Page 28 - MOST RECENT
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Heart and Soul of the Community
THE CHURCH
Main Street United Methodist Church was organized
in 1837 by the Reverend Joshua Bethel and was placed
on the Stokes Circuit. Preyious to that time, the few
folks of the crossroads who were Methodist minded
"O give thanks unto the Lord for he is good: for his
worshipped at the Muddy Creek meeting house about
mercy endureth forever . . . 0 that men would praise
a mile out with the gentle Quakers; the Stocktons, Hen-
the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works
leys, Hayneses, and Stanleys.
to the children of men."
June 3, 1837 John Frederick Kerner donated the
Psalm 107: 1,15 land on which to build the church. The original build-
ing was constructed of rough hand-hewn timbers, mor-
We come unto our father's God, their Rock is our ticed and pegged together, and weatherboarded. The
salvation; builder was John Ross, whose remains lie in the ceme-
The eternal arms, their dear abode, we make our tery.
habitation. In the 1870' s Kernersville was coming out from
We bring Thee, Lord, the praise they brought the Civil War depression. The Methodists were needing
We seek Thee as thy saints have sought, in every a larger church. The old building was sold to the Ne-
generation. groes for their first sanctuary and was moved to their
Thomas H. Gill graveyard just south of the Stafford place.
The second church, a small brick building, was con-
Prayer structed in 187 4-75. This sanctuary served the congre-
gation until the early 1920's, when during the ministry
Heavenly Father, as we the citizens of our com-
of the Reverend E. 0. Cole, the present sanctuary was
munity stand on the threshold of a new century, we
constructed under the supervision of a member, Mr.
praise Thee, we worship Thee, we give thanks to Thee. Y. B. Albert. The new church was dedicated in July
All we like sheep have gone astray, forgive us. Make 1932 while the Reverend T. J. Rogers was the minister.
us mindful and grateful for the blessings bestowed on The pipe organ was dedicated three years later.
us of this generation. As you have bles6ed and kept us Soon after the present sanctuary building was com-
pleted, the public school house in town was destroyed
thus far, so it was your kind providence that kept our
by fire, New Year's Eve, 1925. The church building was
forefathers. Thank you, that through your guidance of
used to serve some of the classes in this crisis until a
them, they so planned and worked and prayed that we new school building could be erected.
can look back and say, "We have a goodly heritage." The present brick parsonage was built in 1950
Help us to go forward with prayers on our hearts for while the Reverend Roy Bell was minister. His succes-
sor, the Reverend H. F. Kuehn, led the people into a
the Church, the home, the community, the nation, and
financial campaign for an educational building. The
the world.
Reverend Sherrill Biggers was a guiding light to the
We face the future depending on thy Spirit to guide
building committee that worked many months with the
us, thy Holy Bible to direct us, thy love - amazing grace architect, Mr. Hall Crews, on plans for\ a new educational
- to o' ershadow us. building and plans to renovate the existing building.
May Thy will be done ... Thy kingdom come. For Mr. Biggers was given a new appointment in 1960
and was succeeded by the Reverend Jack C. Caudill. Six
Jesus sake. Amen.
weeks after Annual Conference, the ground was broken
for the new educational building. April 30, 1961, the
new building was occupied for church school. October
1, 1961, the renovated sanctuary was reopened for wor-
ship services.
The two ministers serving the congregation this
past decade are the Reverend James Gibbs and the Rev-
erend Donald Ellis. Present membership is about 540.
The Moravian Church has been a part of the Ker-
nersville community for more than a century. John
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