Our Story (con't)

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The history of the present church dates from August 22, 1883 when Rev. H. A. Secrest was appointed pastor to the Greenville Mission by the Miami Conference of the United Brethren in Christ. A class of nine members was organized on October 14, 1883 resulting in the conversion of one hundred twenty eight persons, with one hundred united with the church. This enthusiasm resulted in purchasing the property on the corner of Wayne and Devor Street. The church met in homes for two years but, through the vision of five individuals, a new facility was constructed in 1885. The church building was finished in the Spring of 1885.

During the 1920’s during the pastorate of Rev. O.O. Arnold, plans were finalized to remodel the church. The remodeling consisted of a balcony, a new choir loft, as well as the church digging a basement under the present building. Remodeling the sanctuary and digging a basement under the church to make space for additional rooms was undertaken in 1925. During construction, the congregation met in the Baptist church.

During the 1950’s the Sunday school program doubled leading to the need for more educational space. Eventually, the Sunday school program grew so large that it was necessary to use the parsonage for classrooms. Rev. Demi Edwards led the church into another building campaign which resulted in the present Educational Wing.  We were also the first church in Greenville to have a gymnasium. Then in 1965, during the leadership of Rev. John McRoberts the church undertook another remodeling of the Sanctuary as well as an expansion of the building adding a narthex, two nursery rooms and a balcony. Worship took place in the fellowship hall while construction was underway.

However the history of the church is not just a record of accomplishments in building construction, but more importantly in the people who comprise the congregation: pastors and laypeople, long time residents and transients, children, youth, adults, men and women, all working toward one goal: sharing our faith with our community. There have been many unsung heroes and heroines throughout the years: janitors, choir members, secretaries, youth directories, Sunday School teachers and a host of others who have woven the fabric of our church into a vital, thriving congregation.

Our Recent Story:

Like many mainline denominations, our church had been on a steady decline in attendance and membership for 25 years. From 1971 to 1996 we had gone from 250 in attendance to 120 in attendance, our membership had decreased from 664 to 365 and our Sunday school went from 175 to 20.

In 1997 the church began making significant decisions as to it’s future. Changes were made in the worship service, the building décor and the organizational structure. With a renewed sense of vision and a more clearly defined purpose, the church began reaching out to others.

During 1997, the church began to see an increase in it’s worship attendance at the traditional service. In a year and a half  the service grew from 120 to almost 200 in attendance. Then in 1998 the single traditional service was moved up one hour from 10:15 to 9:15 to add a second contemporary service at 10:45. Both services retained about 100 in attendance. It was decided that the Sunday school would be offered at 9:15 with only one adult class at 10:45 as most of the people attending the traditional service were not in classes. Over the next several years both services continued to grow with the contemporary service growing at significantly faster rate. By October of 2001, the traditional service averaged about 120 in attendance and the contemporary service averaged 230. In October of 2001 the church added a third service called “the Quest” to reach postmoderns. Both the traditional and contemporary services were moved earlier to slot this new service in at 11:00 a.m. Sunday school was expanded to two times: 9:40 and 11:00. 

Because of the sacrifices of the church family to move their worship times as well as the willingness to add new services and the daring to reach out to new people, God has truly blessed our church.  The first six months of 2001 our attendance averaged 350. The Sunday school grew to over 100. The church then made the decision to move two of it’s worship services to Memorial Hall (a theatrical theater across the street). The traditional service at 8:30 a.m. stayed at the church while the Contemporary 9:30 a.m. and Quest 11:00 a.m. moved across the street to Memorial Hall. The children’s ministry ran two service times at the church at 9:30 an 11:00.

In 2005, the church purchased 27 acres of land at the corner of Sater Street and Sebring Warner. EUM then began a Saturday night service in 2007 to accommodate the further outreach of the church. Construction of a new facility was begun in 2009 and the church moved into a new Worship Center on Easter of 2010. The new Worship Center includes a worship space, lobby, and children’s classrooms. The church continues to use the old facility for offices, midweek classes and the EUM Christian Preschool.