Heritage Sunday
Christ United Methodist Church
Serving God and our Community since 1816
The year was 1816. The country was still forest covered and swampy in most of southern Indiana. The Hoosier State was admitted to the Union as the 19th state. Daviess County was created from the eastern half of Knox County. A Kentucky farmer named Thomas Lincoln moved his wife and two children to Indiana. The newly incorporated town of Washington was a hustling metropolis of seventy-seven souls. The town contained only a few houses, mostly cabins, and a fort for protection from Indian raids, streets with no sidewalks, and David Flora’s trading post and the livery stable and wheelwright shop of Samuel Miller.
Also in 1816, in Miller’s home on the northeast corner of what is today Main and Meridian streets the first meeting of the Methodist Society in Washington took place. The pastor was a circuit rider named John Shrader. This congregation was part of the Vincennes and Harrison circuit. The circuit was so large that Rev. Shrader could only reach Washington every fourth week. For the next eleven years meetings of First Methodist Church were held in homes, or in the courthouse that was located on the northeast corner of Main and East First streets.
In 1827, the congregation built the first of its six buildings. This small brick church sat on the corner of southwest corner of Hefron and N.E. First. However, due to structural weaknesses I the building it was abandoned as unsafe after only two years of use and the congregation returned to meeting in the courthouse.
In 1837, the congregation obtained property on the southeast corner of Flora and N.E. Third (directly east from the St. Simon’s rectory today). A house located on the property was remodeled for use as a church. Membership of the congregation at the time was 125 persons.
After twenty-one years in this small building the congregation had outgrown the building. For the large sum of $2000 the church built a larger building on the same property and converted the old building into a parsonage. In 1859, First Methodist Episcopal Church was taken off the circuit and mad a station with its own permanent pastor.
It was also during this time that the Ladies Aid Society and the Ladies Sewing Circle were formed.
In 1865 the church organized its first choir consisting of twelve members.
In 1868, the church was able to purchase a one-ton bell for $354.52 from a New Albany salvage company. The bell, which sets nest to the chapel today, was originally made for the steamboat Laurel Hill, which sunk in the Ohio River. The bell was placed in a specially built tower on the corner of Flora and N.E. Third next to the church building.
By 1886 the church was prosperous enough that the pastor’s salary was set at $1,000 per year plus the use of the parsonage. Membership had grown to 285 persons. The little frame church building was becoming crowded. $1,000 was raised and Lot #1 of the original plat of the town of Washington was purchased from James H. Meredith. This is the location of the present chapel.
In 1890 a large brick building with seating for 650 was built for $16,000. In a ceremony the bell was moved from the Third Street building and raised into the new church’s steeple. It was said that you could hear the bell for five miles. A parsonage was built north of the church on the southeast corner of Meridian and Walnut.
In April, 1917, the first Boy Scout troop was organized under the sponsorship of the church. In 1935 a Girl Scout troop was organized under the leadership of Miss Evelyn Reed. The 1890 building continued to serve this congregation into the 1960’s and say the beginning of the baby boom. Fortunately, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Spinks remembered the church in their wills and in 1941 a 42-acre tract was left to First Methodist Church. This land was sold in 1943 for $3,400. This money was used to purchase land to the east of the church and in 1954 the Activities Building was constructed to provide much needed space for Sunday School classes. The Activities Building was constructed after a six-week fund drive that raised $123,000. In 1964 the front lobby was partitioned off and a church library was begun under the direction of Miss Evelyn Reed and Miss Mary Knowles. The Library is currently located in the upper hallway of the Activities Building near the elevator and a few feet from the sanctuary. Carolyn Jones is the current librarian.
On Thursday, September 2, 1963 at about 7:50 pm the church building caught fire and there was some heavy damage in parts of the building. Church services were moved into the Activities Building due to the unsafe conditions of the sanctuary. Early in the morning of September 20, 1963, smoldering embers in the church attic reignited the fire and the 1890 building was destroyed. Fortunately, the bell and some pieces of furniture from the sanctuary and parlor were recovered.
The cornerstone for the present church building was laid on July 25, 1965. Bishop Richard C. Raines consecrated the current building on March 27, 1966.
On April 24, 1968 the Methodist Church and its “German” cousin, the Evangelical United Brethren Church, merged to form the United Methodist Church. Because the EUB church in Washington was a “First” church as was this congregation the two congregations agreed to give up their historic names. The EUB congregation became known as Otterbein United Methodist Church and this congregation moved from being First Methodist to Christ United Methodist.
Over the years, our church has opened its doors to several ministries serving the Washington Community. As noted the church has always been a supporter of the Scout organizations. In the 1970’s the Rosemary Kennedy School, which served the learning handicapped members of our community was started in the Sunday School rooms of Christ Church. This has grown into the Red Door Industries and functions in its own buildings today. For several years Christ Church was the home of the Headstart program. Christ Church is currently providing space for a church supported day care center. In addition the members of Christ United Methodist Church can be found as active participants in almost all the civic and charitable organizations, putting their Christian faith to work in our community.
Our congregation has a proud tradition of service to God and our community. The programs of the church have been varied and have met the needs of this community over the past one hundred and ninety-two years. May we continue to follow this path of Christian leadership and service that has been followed by so many who have gone this way before.
Article by Don Spillman
