Wilson Chapel Methodist Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. You're rolling through Madison County now, and this is a story that starts with ten people and a preacher, back in 1873. The Rev.

W. A. Parks organized what would become the Methodist Episcopal Church, the second African American church in the whole town of Madisonville.

Ten charter members. That's your foundation. Not a grand building, not a deed to a piece of land.

Just ten people and a calling. In the early days, worship happened wherever the congregation could gather. Members opened their homes.

When the weather and the season allowed, they built a brush arbor, which is about as humble a house of God as you can construct, four poles and a canopy of branches, and they held services under it. And when there was no minister available, the congregation didn't sit in silence. They turned to one of their own, someone given the title of exhorter, a member who would stand up and deliver the sermon.

The community carried itself. Then, in 1888, something changed the story for good. Ed and Mary Burrell donated land.

That gift made everything that followed possible. By 1891, the first sanctuary was erected right here on that ground. A real building, a place with walls and a roof and a home of its own.

In 1923, a white frame building replaced it. And then in the 1960s, a brick structure went up in its place. Layer by layer, generation by generation, this congregation built and rebuilt, each structure a little more permanent than the last.

The marker notes that the church has served the area for more than a hundred and twenty years. Ten charter members and a brush arbor. That's where it all began.

What the marker says

Organized in 1873 by the Rev. W. A. Parks and ten charter members, the Methodist Episcopal Church was the second African American church in Madisonville. Early worship services were held in members' homes and a brush arbor. In the absence of a minister, sermons were given by a member called an exhorter. Land was donated by Ed and Mary Burrell in 1888, and the first sanctuary was erected here in 1891. A white frame building replaced it in 1923. A brick structure was built in the 1960s. The church has served the area for more than 120 years.