The one-hundred year
history of the Free Methodist Church in Monongahela is intertwined
with the work of the Free Methodist Church in Sunnyside and Manoun, PA
The actual start of this work was begun in an upstairs storeroom in
Manoun, PA in the year 1901, by George Albright. After a while,
the building in which the storeroom was located was sold. The
young church then began to hold meetings in the old Manoun
schoolhouse. As the meetings continued and the numbers grew,
they became an organized society in the year 1903. The
school-house meetings continued for many years with a variety of
pastors appointed by the Free Methodist annual conference in order to
lead the small church.
The church was eventually
moved to Sunnyside and met weekly in the Sunnyside schoolhouse.
IN February 1933 a great revival came to the schoolhouse church under
the leadership of Sam West who served as both pastor and evangelist.
One eyewitness of that time, Hattie McKeever, writes (1996).
"Instead of six to eight people the old schoolhouse was full to
overflowing. People came from every direction many, many that I
had never seen in church before. I'm an old lady now and I can
tell you, I have never seen anything like it. The original
meetings went on nightly for 6 weeks and many good meetings after, but
nothing like those 6 weeks.
It was in the early
1940's when the church moved into a new building in the community of
Sunnyside. This was the church's first officially owned
facility. From 1940 until 1975, fourteen different pastors were
appointed to lead the Sunnyside congregation. In August of 1975,
William Bailey was the newly appointed pastor of the church in
Sunnyside. In February 1976, God was pleased to visit the church
again with revival stirrings using evangelist Frank Peoples and once
more the church was filled and at times overflowing.
The
congregation at this time realized the need for a larger church
facility. After much prayer and searching they finally settled
in their present location at 401 Second Street, Monongahela, PA.
The building they purchased was previously the home of a local
Lutheran congregation who had moved to a newly constructed facility.
After weeks of renovation and much hard work, the Monongahela Free
Methodist Church was opened in February 1978.
Since
that time the congregation has grown in both word and deed and
continues to fill up on a weekly basis. In 1986 a second
building (the former National Guard Armory) was occupied for the
purpose of youth outreach and the development of an ongoing food
distribution ministry. The present-day work of the church
continues to provide various ministries and opportunities for
spiritual growth, service, and evangelistic outreaches in the
Monongahela Valley.
More information about
our faith can be found at our denominational website. Click on
the graphic for more information about us...
