USA > North Carolina > Union County > Monroe > History of New Hope Methodist Protestant Church : Union County, Buford Township, Monroe, North Carolina, from the year 1889 to 1936 > Part 2
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The people in general were well pleased with Rev. Mr. Giles, and at the Fourth Quarterly Conference the delegate was instructed to ask for his return.
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1900-The Conference granted the request of the delegate and Rev. Mr. Giles began his second year's work on the Wadesboro Circuit. The work advanc- ed, and the Sunday School thrived through the winter. With the coming of spring John R. Belk led the church in organizing a prayer meeting, as the one before had died during the winter months.
A revival was conducted early in August with Rev. Wm. P. Martin as pulpit help. Rev. Mr. Martin was a successful evangelist, and a great revival was wit- nessed. Quite a number of new members were add- ed to the church roll.
The year closed with New Hope going over the top financially. They promised $25.00 and paid $25.25. No other money was raised except Sunday School funds. The Fourth Quarterly Conference was held at McFarlan Church. There was some misunder- standing as to the return of the pastor to the work, through an effort to build a parsonage on the work. A great effort had been made to build a parsonage on the Charge, but had failed. There were no special ob- jections to the return of the pastor, therefore, the del- egate was instructed to ask for his return.
1901-The new year, 1901, brought to the Church the same pastor. The Boundary Committee of the Annual Conference added three churches to the seven churches comprising the Wadesboro Circuit, making a total of ten churches. Rev. Mr. Giles did his best to serve all those churches, but could not successfully. Therefore the President appointed him an assistant,
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Rev. John Turner, of Pageland, South Carolina. Mr. Turner served the three churches in South Carolina- Rose Hill, Bethesda and Bear Creek.
Another trial was made for a parsonage early in the spring of 1901, at which the church at Peachland became offended in some way, and refused to support the pastor. None of these efforts to build a parsonage became a reality, and no parsonage was built.
The President of the Annual Conference, Rev. C. L. Whitaker, visited New Hope Church in the sum- mer of 1901. He was greatly pleased with the Church and the work being accomplished there.
A revival that year is not remembered. It is be- lieved one was conducted.
The Fourth Quarterly Conference was held at Rose Hill, Pageland, South Carolina. In the stewards' re- port we find New Hope, which had promised $25.00, failing in financial strength. They had paid only $20.77. They promised to do better the next year. The delegate, Mr. O. E. Braswell, of the Rockingham Church, was instructed to ask for the return of Mr. Giles. He consented to return since the request was unanimous.
1902-The request of the delegate was granted by the Annual Conference and Mr. Giles began his fourth year on the Wadesboro Circuit with a greater determination than ever before. The church grew very fast that year. People took greater interest than usual. A revival was conducted some time in August of that year, 1902, with Rev. N. G. Bethea assisting
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the pastor. After the revival had continued for a few days Rev. J. W. Self, a young preacher in the Con- ference, came at the request of Rev. Mr. Bethea. The Rev. Mr. Self was an able young preacher, and did some very effective work in the revival. Rev. Aner B. Haywood was also present in the revival and did some of the preaching. The revival continued about two weeks, and very much and lasting good was oc- complished.
The Fourth Conference was held at Mt. Moriah Church, with nine of the ten churches represented. A motion was put before the body that the work be again divided into two circuits, as the circuit, with ten churches, was too much for one pastor to look af- ter. Finally the delegate was instructed to ask the Boundary Committee to divide the Circuit in some way. The Conference left it to the Boundary Com- mittee as to how the division should be made.
The stewards' report was made, which found New Hope Church on top. They had promised $30.00 and paid $32.00. There was also $4.67 raised on the Con- ference Burdget.
The delegate was left uninstructed as to the re- quest for a pastor since the Circuit was expecting to be divided. Therefore, it was left to the Stationing Committee to appoint a pastor for each circuit.
The work was divided, Bear Creek, Bethesda, Rose Hill, Mt. Moriah, New Salem and New Hope, constituted a circuit to be known as the Monroe Cir- cuit, and was left unsupplied. The other part of the former Circuit was known as the Wadesboro Circuit.
REV. J. H. TURNER, 1903 REV. W. D. REED, 1904 REV. I. I. YORK, 1905
New Hope waited for some time, and no pastor came. The President, Dr. T. M. Johnston, was asked to supply the Circuit with a pastor. He immediately came to their rescue, and appointed Rev. John Turner, of Pageland, South Carolina, who before had served the three churches in South Carolina, which this year were made a part of the Monroe Circuit.
Rev. Mr. Turner was a very able preacher, and had done some very effective work in the South Carolina Conference, of which he was President for several terms, before he came to the North Carolina Confer- ence. Few objected to Rev. Mr. Turner as pastor, but the objections did not amount to anything. The people who objected soon learned, through the interest he took in the work at New Hope, that he was a very de- sirable pastor. The Sunday School and prayer meet- ing continued and the Church was benefitted by them. The year continued with the regular routine of work.
At the Fourth Quarterly Conference New Hope reported short again. They had promised $40.00 on pastor's salary, but paid $29.64, and had raised $2.78 on the Conference budget. It is not known how the delegate was instructed at this Conference .. Although
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the Monroe Circuit was left unsupplied, perhaps, be- cause the Circuit was divided again. The three churches in South Carolina were detached from the Monroe Circuit, and made a Circuit to be known as the Chesterfield Circuit, and Rev. John H. Turner was appointed as its pastor. Grace Chapel was at- tached back to the Monroe Circuit, also another Church.
1904-About thirty days after Conference, Mr. T. P. Ross received notice from the President that pastor supply would immediately be made for New Hope. Early in the Conference year, 1904, notice was given that Rev. W. D. Reed had been appointed as pastor. Pastor Reed soon came to the work with great zeal and determination. He was a young man just serving his first pastorate.
The winter of that Conferenece year was very rough and stormy, but that did not hinder Pastor Reed in his work. All the regular appointments were met, many times when no one but himself, was pres- enet. Great work was done in the church that year. The church had not yet been painted, the pastor ap- pointed a committee to gather funds to do this work. The necessary funds were gathered and the church was painted that summer, and the grounds were greatly improved. The Sunday School revived again, in the spring with Mr. Cull M. Richardson as Super- intendent. The Church thrived greatly under the pastorate of Rev. Mr. Reed, and the work he did was very satisfactory.
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A very successful revival was conducted late in August. The Rev. H. S. B. King assisted the pastor in the revival. Pastor Reed reported many converted, and a good number added to the church.
At the Fourth Quarterly Conference Rev. Mr. Reed was asked to return to the work the next year, and a unanimous vote was cast in his favor, but the splendid work he had done on the Monroe Circuit spread over the Conference, and pressing demands were made for him in the Annual Conference to larger and better fields. Rev. Mr. Reed was assigned to the Mecklen- burg Circuit.
1905-Rev. I. I. York was assigned to the Monroe Circuit for the Conference year 1905. He immedi- ately came to the work to look it over, and finally de- cided to give it a trial. He was a very aged man with very peculiar habits and unusual ideas, but did a very splendid work in the church. He was an ideal pas- tor, and was very interested in his work and visited his members regularly and often. Few of the other churches of the charge did not like him as pastor or preacher. In spite of this he did some very effective work on the Charge, especially at New Hope Church. A revival was conducted early in August. Rev. Aner B. Haywood assisted the pastor in the revival work.
The Fourth Quarterly Conference was held at Grace Chapel late in October. New Hope had paid the pastor's salary in full, but had failed to raise any- thing on the budget. New Hope asked for the return of Rev. Mr. York, but the other churches asked for a change. The other churches over ruled, and the del- egate was instructed to ask for a change.
REV. J. B. PARHAM, 1906 REV. C. W. BALIFF, 1907
The delegate had been asked, by individuals, to get Rev. J. B. Parham, which he did. The Annual Con- ference granted the request of the delegate, and the Rev. Mr. Parham was assigned to the Monroe Circuit.
He immediately came to the work, and made a very deep impression on the people at New Hope Church. In about thirty days after he came to the work he mov- ed into the community of Grace Chapel Church.
Since Pastor Parham lived in the Grace Chapel community he rendered some very fine and pleasing work in that church in the early part of the year. He very often visited, a week at the time, in the New Hope Community, and in so doing, he gained great favor in the hearts of the people there. He appeared to be such a spiritual man, worldly people flocked to him for spiritual comfort. His regular services at New Hope were largely attended by the whole com- munity.
The Second Quarterly Conference was held at New Hope Church, with only four of the churches repre- sented. Some objections were made about some ac- cusations the pastor had made against Mr. Jack Furr and family, members of Grace Chapel Church. No charge was brought against the pastor at the time.
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But soon after the Second Quarterly Conference Rev. Mr. Parham erased or dropped Mr. Furr and family's name from the Church roll.
The revival of that year is well remembered by several, to be a very successful one. So far as we have been able to learn, the revival was conducted by the pastor with the exception of a few times the Rev. Aner B. Haywood was present, who assisted in every way he could. The first week of the revival greatly revived the Church and several were reclaimed. On the beginning of the second week, there were a large num- ber wonderfully converted. Among that number were Mr. Lee Aycoth and Mr. John Wesley Richard- son, who afterwards become two of New Hope's most dependable official members.
The Third Quarterly Conference was conducted with the regular routine of business. Late in October the Fourth Quarterly Conference was held at Grace Chapel Church. New Hope reported pastor's salary over paid, Conference Claims also paid. Everything was thought to be peaceable, when, just before time to instruct the delegate, Mr. Jack Furr preferred charges against Pastor Parham for unofficially dropping him and his family from the Church roll. This soon ag- tated trouble in the Conference, from which the dele- gate was left uninstructed. It was also expressed in the Conference that Pastor Parham had been encour- aging the people of Grace Chapel Church to unite with the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. With- out any doubts, he was the cause of that church unit- ing with the Methodist Episcopal Conference in 1908.
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The charge brought by Mr. Furr in that Conference, was deferred to the First or Second Quarterly Confer- ence of the next year, 1907, to be settled in the Pres- ence of the President of the Annual Conference, since Pastor Parham did not intend to leave the community in which he was living, whether or not he was assign- ed as pastor. Although he had great hopes of return- ing the next year as pastor.
1907-For some unknown reason Rev. Mr. Parham was not assigned to any work, but was left in the hands of the President, and Rev. C. W. Baliff was as- signed to the Monroe Charge, and he soon came to the work. Pastor Baliff brought the first phonograph to the New Hope community. On Saturday nights, before his regular appointments, he would give regu- lar entertainments in schoolhouses or homes, and of- ten charge admission. Pastor Baliff did not have time to fill his regular appointments. Some of the of- ficial members of the church asked him to stop his worldly entertainments and put his efforts to the spiritual interests of the church. He ignored that ad- vice, and continued in his usual way. He began to come into the community early in the week and con- ducted his entertainments in public places or any- where he would receive a chance. The officials of New Hope Church inquired of his conduct at the oth- er Churches of the Charge. In the First Quarterly Conference, the officials of the entire Charge asked Pastor Baliff to improve his way of conducting himself or they would reject him as pastor of the whole Charge.
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He promised to do better, although he said he did not see any harm in the entertainments he was giving. Someone reminded him that it was not altogether the harm that it might or might not be, but it was the neglecting of his ministerial work. After the Con- ference he continued his worldly entertainments with no sign of halting. It was reported that two of the churches rejecting him as pastor soon after the First Quarterly Conference.
The Second Quarterly Conference was called early in the year, and was conducted by the President of the Annual Conference, Rev. E. W. Swain. In this Conference reports were made against Pastor Baliff. The President asked the pastor to make a report of his work, and also asked him if he wished to defend himself against the charge the Conference had brought against him. He offered no pastoral report, neither did he offer to defend himself of the alleged charge. The President asked for the wish of the Conference. On motion the body cast votes to determine what would be done. At the close of the ballot it was found that it was the wish of the body that Pastor Baliff be released from his pastoral duties of the Mon- roe Circuit. That was immediately done by the Presi- dent. Immediately after Mr. Baliff was released, New Hope asked that the Rev. J. B. Parham be appointed to fill the vacancy. The other churches of the Charge were very bitterly opposed to the move. Then, T. P. Ross, an official of New Hope Church, made an appeal to the President that Mr .: Parham be permit- ted to serve New Hope Church alone. The President
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would not grant this request until the case against Mr. Parham, which had been brought by Mr. Jack Furr, had been disposed of. When the case was call- ed it was learned that Mr. Furr was very ill, and was unable to attend the hearing, but had asked Mr. J. D. A. Secrete to represent him in the case. After all the facts in the case were heard by the President, he over- ruled in the matter. After the trial the President would not grant the request of Mr. Ross for New Hope Church. Therefore, New Hope, with the other churches of the Charge, was left without a pastor the remainder of that year, 1907. After the President was informed of the work done by the Rev. Mr. Parham to get Grace Chapel to unite with the Methodist Epis- copal Conference, he asked him to discontinue any or all local work on the Charge.
The work moved on exceptionally well at New Hope the remainder of the year. It is not remembered who conducted the revival that year ; in all probabil- ity one was not held at all.
The Fourth Quarterly Conference was conducted at New Hope Church, November 9th, 1907. As there was no pastor on the Charge since the Rev. Mr. Baliff had left early in the year, the Rev. Mr. Parham was appointed by officials to serve as Chairman of the Quarterly Conference, with T. P. Ross Secretary pro tem. Official members present from New Hope were: D. L. Ross, T. P. Ross, J. T. Cook, J. R. Belk and J. E. Cook. J. T. Cook was elected delegate to the An- nual Conference and was left uninstructed.
REV. Wm. P. MARTIN, 1908-1911
The people of New Hope looked forward with anx- ious hearts to the coming of the new pastor. It had been reported that Rev. Durant Garmon had been as- signed to the work. This pleased the people of New Hope, as he had assisted in a revival there some time before. His father, Rev. John Garmon, had been pas- tor of the Monroe Circuit before New Hope was estab- lished. Two months passed and the pastor had not come. About the first of January, 1908, notice was given that the Rev. Mr. Garmon had gone back to what is now known as Connelly Springs Charge, a work which he served for about sixteen years.
On or about January 15th, 1908, word was received from the President of the Conference that Rev. Wmn. P. Martin had been appointed pastor of the Circuit, and would be on the work by the first of February of that year. Mr. Martin came at the appointed time and filled his first appointment at New Hope Church the first Sunday in February. He was not a stranger to this people, as he had assisted in several revivals prior to this time. After the morning service Rev. Mr. Martin talked freely concerning the work and its problems, talking mostly of the condition of Grace Chapel Church.
The movement which had been started by Rev. Mr. Parham to turn the church into a Methodist Episcopal Church, had caused a division. Most of the influential
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members were for the change. Rev. Mr. Martin was very much undecided whether to try to fill any ap- pointments there, although he did make several at- tempts.
The First Quarterly Conference was to be held at Grace Chapel, but they could not obtain entrance to the church building, so an empty building was secur- ed from a neighbor which was used. This was on April 18th, 1908. The regular business of the Confer- ence was transacted by electing officials for the year. T. P. Ross and J. M. Yarbrough were added to the steward list of New Hope. Some of the churches add- ed to their pledges on pastor's salary, but New Hope's pledge stood at $60.00, which was still the highest pledge.
The report from Class Leader and Trustees from Grace Chapel were very sad to the people struggling to hold the Church together. We will not give these reports, but will give a report which appeared in "Our Church Record" of June 11th, 1908. This will also show the efforts of Pastor Martin to save the Church for the Methodist Protestant Conference :
GRACE CHAPEL, MONROE CIRCUIT Dear Brother McCulloch:
Permit me to report through your columns. Excuse me if my letter should be a little long, for the report will cover about four months. But I will be brief. Our pastor, Rev. W. P. Martin, reached Monroe work in February; his first ap- pointment at Grace was the third Sunday in February, but we found the door was locked against us. Brother Martin stcod against the outer wall of the church and preached a helpful sermon while his congregation sat around on the ground.
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Didn't fill the appointment on third Sunday in March; was gone home after his horse and buggy.
First Quarterly Conference was to be held with the church at Grace Saturday before the third Sunday in April. Both pastor and people were on the ground, but the door was lock- ed against us and no means of getting the key. Our friend and neighbor, Mr. J. T. Helms, tendered us the use of a little farm house down in the field, which we repaired and where we held the first Quarterly Conference, and the business of the conference was transacted in a spirit of harmony and love.
Next appointment, third Sunday in May. Our pastor was promptly on the grounds and a large congregation greeted him, but on Sunday morning just before the congregation as- sembler the hammer was heard ringing in the church and on investigation it was found that the door was not only locked but there was a piece of timber nailed from door post to door post across the door on the inside of the church. Brother Martin said he could not ask his congregation to sit on the ground and hear him preach but thought the thing to do was to shake the dust off his feet as a witness against them because he had brought the gospel of peace to them and they had not received him. Our pastor did not preach. As he had no appointment for the fifth Sunday, he published two appointments for Grace in our county paper, one at 11 A. M. and one at 3 P. M. But after the appointments had gone out and on Thursday night before the fifth Sunday, Rev. Mr. Burrus, the M. E. preacher at Grace, announced an appointment. Both preachers were on the ground. Rev. Mr. Burrus took the pulpit and held the congregation two hours. Brother Martin went in and heard him preach, the first time he had been in the church; he did not preach. After the ser- vice closed it was said there would be a young peoples' meet- ing in the church at 3:00 P. M. Brother Martin did not go to the church in the afternoon; he said it was no use. We se- cured permission from our Baptist brethren, the school com- mittee, to hold a service in the schoolhouse, and on the first Sunday in June Brother Martin preached a soul-stirring ser- mon on the great Love of God, which made a good impres-
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sion on his congregation. I received a copy of the Minutes from Brother Andrews yesterday and was glad to know the stand the Boundary Committee has taken for Grace. We think we have men that are made out of the kind of stuff that will carry out the request of the Boundary Committee. We expect to call a trustee meeting soon and decide on some plan of action, but I promised to be brief. We hope this re- port will not find its way to the waste basket on account of its length, and we hope that our next report will be more en- couraging. Finally, brethren, pray for us.
D. DEES, Reporter.
The Methodist Protestant Conference, as well as the Monroe Circuit, struggled hard to hold Grace Chapel, but undermining work had been done too long, so that what the Conference and the Circuit did was of no profit to them. Mr. T. P. Ross and others of New Hope assisted the pastor in his great effort to hold Grace Chapel, but during this time a Methodist Epis- copal minister had been appointed to serve Grace Chapel. Finally, before the end of the year all ef- forts were declared in vain, and no further efforts were made to hold the church. Records show that the Annual Conference tried to hold the church property, but finally failed.
The Second Quarterly Conference was held at Mt. Moriah, June 13th, 1908. Reports were given in their regular order. In these reports was a brief report from the Sunday School Superintendent of New Hope, J. E. Cook, Mr. Cook spoke very favorably of the Sun- day School. Stewards' report was next given, the re- port from New Hope being given by T. P. Ross. This report showed that the sum of $6.45 had
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been paid on pastor's salary. New Hope was in the lead again, the next highest amount paid was $3.55. At that time Mr. Sidney Billingsly was given license to preach and T. P. Ross was elected delegate to the Sub-District Conference.
New Hope Church greatly prospered during the year, greater Spiritual interest was taken. A very successful revival was reported conducted by the pastor. A prayer meeting was organized later in the year by J. R. Belk and Cull Richardson. This pray- er meeting greatly helped the church and Sunday School. It is believed that it was in the early Fall of that year when the Rev. Allison Belk, son of J. Pat Belk, conducted a successful revival at New Hope.
In the late fall and early winter the church suf- fered greatly when a large number of the members become ill and a number of faithful families moved out of the community, amonge them were T. B. Cook and family who moved to Pleasant Valley, near Fort Mills, South Carolina.
Third Quarterly Conference was held September 12th, 1908. Regular business was transacted. We find New Hope had only paid $16.55 up until this date, although, still in the lead. Mr. J. F. Little was elected delegate to the Annual Conference,
The Fourth Quarterly Conference was held at New Hope Church on October 31st, 1908. The Min- utes of this Conference was very brief, although, we find the Sunday School had been re-organized and J. T. Cook was now Sunday School Supertendent. At that time only two Sunday Schools were on the
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entire charge, the one at New Hope and the other seem to go from one church to the other. There was a very small attendance at this Conference, as well as at many of the others, which caused a motion to be made and carried as follows: "In any future Conference. any offical member desiring to be ab- sent he will be required to send a writter statement showing the cause of such absence". The pastor re- ported the salary very much behind, this was mostly caused by Grace Chapel failing to do its part. Sev- eral had paid their assesment on pastor's salary. These could not pay the whole amount. There were no figures given in the report, therefore, it is not known just the amount which was paid. Although $300.00 was promised for the next year.
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