Bettie Methodist Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm gonna pass it along to you. Somewhere in Upshur County, two brothers decided a community needed a church, and they weren't the kind of men to just talk about it. Jeff and Hillard Parish, that's who we're dealing with.

The year was 1892, and principally through their efforts, a congregation was organized and a sanctuary was built right here at this site. Two brothers. One mission.

Done. Now that's how you get a thing accomplished. Local tradition holds that this new sanctuary, one of the first buildings in Bettie, probably replaced a church called Parish Chapel Methodist Church, which had been abandoned or disbanded and sat about two miles west of this spot.

The Parish name showing up again is something the marker notes, and I'll leave that observation right there where I found it. But here's what makes this place something more than four walls and a steeple. Once that sanctuary was standing, the community looked at it and thought, well, as long as we've got the space.

The community's first school was held inside those walls. Singing lessons. Music lessons.

And this went on for several decades after the building was completed. Imagine that, a Sunday sermon in the morning and a child learning to carry a tune in the afternoon, in the same room, under the same roof. The Bettie Methodist Church kept right on serving the community beyond all of that, which is exactly what the marker says, and exactly what two brothers named Parish built it to do back in 1892.

What the marker says

This congregation was organized and a sanctuary built at this site in 1892 principally through the efforts of brothers Jeff and Hillard Parish. According to local tradition, the sanctuary (one of the first buildings in Bettie) probably replaced the abandoned or disbanded Parish Chapel Methodist Church which was located about two miles west of here. In addition to religious services, the community's first school and popular singing and music lessons were held in the sanctuary for several decades after its completion. This congregation continues to serve the community.