Sardis Methodist Church

Duane's take

The way I tell it, I'm going off what the official marker says about Sardis Methodist Church in Shelby County, so let me lay it out just as the record stands. Somewhere out in a small rural corner of Shelby County, neighbors got together in 1872 with nothing but a need and a notion. They wanted a church.

And when you want a church and you don't have the means to buy one, well, you do what folks out here have always done. You go find the trees yourself. Community members cut timber and built a log structure, and just like that, a congregation had a home.

Now, the land itself took a little longer to make official. It was 1894 when J. M.

Hughes and his family formally deeded two acres to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Two acres. Signed, sealed, delivered.

And right about that same time, the congregation looked around at their original log walls and realized they had outgrown them. So construction began that very year on a new sanctuary. Under the leadership of the Reverend John Goodwin, church members built the new wooden structure themselves.

Same spirit as the first building, just bigger. As for the name, that honor fell to the Reverend H. Toomie, presiding elder of the denominational conference.

He's the one who chose the name Sardis Methodist Church. For decades after that, Sardis was served by circuit-riding ministers. Men on horseback making their rounds, showing up to preach, then moving on down the road to the next congregation.

That arrangement held all the way into the 1940s. And the church kept on. Until 1972, when it was disbanded.

But here's where the story turns. The community wasn't finished with Sardis, and Sardis wasn't finished with them. Members raised funds to renovate the building, and in 1986 the congregation was reorganized.

That old wooden structure, built by the hands of church members back in 1894, was still standing and still worth saving. Today, Sardis Methodist Church remains the focal point for the community. Weddings get held there.

Funerals. Homecoming celebrations. A church that started with neighbors and ax handles in 1872 is still the place people turn when life calls for something more than an ordinary Tuesday.

That's not nothing. That's everything.

What the marker says

Neighbors in a small rural community in this area gathered together in 1872 to organize a church congregation. The need for a house of worship was met when members of the community worked together to cut trees and built a log structure. The two acres of land on which the church was built were formally deeded to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, by J. M. Hughes and his family in 1894. The congregation had outgrown the original church building, and construction was begun that year on a new sanctuary. Under the leadership of the Rev. John Goodwin, the new wooden structure was built by church members. The name Sardis Methodist Church was chosen by the Rev. H. Toomie, presiding elder of the denominational conference. The Sardis congregation was served by circuit-riding ministers until the 1940s. It remained active until 1972, when it was disbanded. Members of the community raised funds to renovate the building and the congregation was reorganized in 1986. Still the focal point for the community, the church is used for special services such as weddings, funerals, and homecoming celebrations.