Grace United Methodist Church

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Grace United Methodist Church in Robertson County. Gather round, because this congregation has lived through more than most. It was founded way back in 1868, when it went by the name Bremond Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and the Rev.

John R. White was there from the start, serving as pastor. Now, in those earliest days, there was no proper church building to speak of.

The faithful gathered in private homes, or they made their way to the community's Union church, and they made do. That's how it began. Simple, humble, and determined.

But this congregation was going to need that determination. Because the years ahead had some weather in store. Two early Methodist church buildings were rebuilt after damage from windstorms.

Two. Not one bad storm, but more than one, and each time, the congregation picked themselves up and built again. You might start to think this congregation had a stubbornness about it, and you would not be wrong.

Then came 1949. A fire took the sanctuary. After windstorms, after rebuilding, after all of it, fire.

And still, they built again. A new sanctuary rose to replace the one the flames had taken. By the 1950s, the congregation had seen enough of the world to know who they were, and they took a new name to carry forward: Grace Methodist Church.

That name, Grace, feels earned. Every bit of it.

What the marker says

This congregation was founded in 1868 as the Bremond Methodist Episcopal Church, South, with the Rev. John R. White serving as pastor. The earliest worship services were held in private homes or in the community's Union church. Two early Methodist church buildings were rebuilt after damage from windstorms, and a new sanctuary replaced the one lost in a 1949 fire. The congregation changed its name to "Grace Methodist Church" in the 1950s.