Concord United Methodist Church: Celebrating 150 Years as Athens' Historic Community Church
The town now known as Athens, WV was settled in the 1800s. In 1858, a popular camp-meeting lot was given by William H. French "to the trustees upon which a house of worship for members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South [shall be built], and further when said building shall not be occupied by Methodists for preaching, that the liberty of preaching shall be granted to all other professing Christians."
The first building was a traditional rural English design, raised by chief architect Thomas Pritchard and "the people of the area who volunteered to bring lumber." The first minister, Rev. Captain William Holroyd, was a British pastor and carpenter, sent by the Reformed Church of England with instructions to work in the U.S. as a circuit-riding Methodist preacher. His wife, Sarah, was asked to name the new church. She declared, "This church is where all denominations shall worship together in harmony, sweet fellowship, and concord." - thus the name, Concord Church.
As the area grew, the town came to be known as Concord Church, Va., until West Virginia became a state in 1863. Concord State Normal School (now Concord University) was founded in 1875 and prompted the town to change its name to Athens, because it was a center of learning atop a mountain, like its Greek predecessor. The church followed, changing its name to Athens Methodist Episcopal Church South.
The congregation outgrew its first building in 1886, when the original structure was torn down. A new building was built on the same site and included a steeple with a bell and a large Victorian-era black altar flecked with gold. Records indicate that the congregation was divided by a center aisle, with men generally sitting on one side and women on the other. The church continued to be used by people of all denominations until the nearby American Baptist Church was built in 1895. Other denominations followed suit.
The church's present sanctuary, built in 1907, included such marvels as a furnace, indoor plumbing, and a piano. The unique stained glass windows were installed. A wooden addition was built onto the back of the sanctuary in 1938 and remodeled in 1954 for classrooms and offices.
The church continued to grow and on August 2nd, 1958, ground was broken for a three-story brick addition, housing classrooms, a downstairs social hall with full kitchen, and a large upstairs fellowship hall with a mini-kitchen, designed specifically for the Methodist Student Movement. Although our building continued to undergo improvement projects, the structure as it stands today was complete.
When the Methodist Church and the Evangelical Church of the Brethren merged to form the United Methodist Church in 1968, the congregation adopted the name Athens United Methodist Church. When the Methodist movement celebrated its 200th anniversary, local artist and historian Dr. J. Arthur Butcher proposed the church change its name again, to reflect its long history. On Sept. 12th, 1984, the Charge Conference of the church moved to rename the congregation Concord United Methodist Church.
CUMC looks forward to adding many more chapters to our history in the years to come. Please join us as we embark upon new projects of service, faith, and renewal in the 21st century.