History

History of Mt. Pleasant Community Church

Foreword

We would like to thank everyone who contributed in gathering materials to document the history of our Church. Most of the information was obtained from early members, old Church records, a Church history written by Rosa Hunt, Mrs. John R. Hunt, and Clark Welborn, and the centennial publication “History of Mt. Pleasant Methodist Church 1881-1981.” If you find any errors, or you have additional information, please contact us so our records can be corrected and updated. Though this history is far from complete, we hope it will recall pleasant memories and help future generations understand and appreciate the long, spiritual life of Mt. Pleasant Community Church.

A History of the Church

January 1873 – Several local men met to take a long-range view of the needs of the Mt. Pleasant community. There was no school for the 116 boys and girls of school age. This was soon after the Civil War, when the country had an abundance of children, and poverty was widespread. After pooling their assets, the men had only $15. With that, they purchased a sawmill shack left on the grounds after a certain Dr. Worth moved a sawmill off the John Welborn home place. The shack stood “50 rods” (or 825 feet) west of the road. It previously had been a blacksmith shop, and by that time was known as “the sheep shelter.”

July 1873 – Ben Rush, Stan Redding, Frank Briles, Mike Spencer, George Rush, John Davis, and John Welborn razed the shack and moved it east of where the current Church now stands. They removed the plank roof, enlarged the building eight feet, and finished it with rough hewn planks. Jim Rush hauled rocks, Jim Swaney built the chimney, and Len Hunt milled boards out of an oak tree to cover the new building. The seats were made of thick plank slabs. It was a crude building consisting of one room with no ceiling, two doors, and one small window.

November 1873 – The new school was open. At that time, there was only $35 in school funds in the county treasury, which was used to hire W. J. Ridge of Science Hill. He taught two months for $35. Annis Briles and Alson Johnson, each having a spare bedroom, gave Mr. Ridge room and board. Mr. Ridge was known as a good teacher and was hired again when the school reopened. The community, however, still had no organized church. Local people would gather in the sheep shelter turned schoolhouse for Sunday services. They were from Methodist, Quaker, and Baptist denominations. Over the next several years, many ministers served the people in this makeshift church. John Briles was known as a “sweet-spirited, soft-spoken man.” Quincy Richardson was described as a “strong-voiced, high-pressured preacher.” It was said of Penn Ridge that “his voice needed filing down a little so as to get it tuned to the right key.” Evans Hunt served the longest, and “his advice was most wholesome.” Joe Parkins came to the Mt. Pleasant-Hoover Hill community, whose help with the Sunday School and song service was said to be outstanding. Throughout all this, there continued to be a movement to establish a church.

August 1881 – Rev. W. C. Hammer conducted a revival in the makeshift church. Rev. Hammer was instrumental in establishing the Methodist Protestant Church in the North Carolina Piedmont. There were three services each day and all were well-attended. People reportedly came from all over the region in buggies and wagons to attend the revival. One night, the schoolhouse was so full, the preacher gave up his own seat. People were led to Christ in every service. After the revival, a church was organized with eight charter members: Alvin Hill, Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Evans, Luvenia Plummer, Betty Gray Hunt, Juella Gaddis, Ruth Davis, and Rosa Johnson Cashatt.

1881 – The people began to make plans for a new church building. Al and Elizabeth Johnson donated two and one-half acres of land for a church and one and on-half acres for a new schoolhouse. Ben Rush was appointed to oversee the projects. Marsh Swaim drew blue-prints for the church. Taylor Barker, Willis Kindley, and others donated rough hewn lumber. Walter Welborn and John Welborn hauled the lumber to the site. J. W. Evans, Al Johnson, Wesley Welborn, and R. C. Welborn constructed the church. Mark Swaim donated many of the shingles and Snow Lumber Company donated the windows and doors. Zeke Farabee Hardware Company donated most of the nails and door locks. The Barkers and Walter Welborn donated the lumber for the seats. Mr. and Mrs. William Thayer donated the first organ.

It seems there was a great deal of discussion as to how the seats should be placed in the church and how many doors the building should have. Some were in favor of a banister running on top of the middle row of seats to the altar, separating the men and women. Instead, the members decided to leave out the center banister and allow the people to sit where they chose. They also decided to have two doors, as some of the men thought the women would “beat them to the door and stand in it for an hour admiring each other’s new hat and looking at all the babies.” The first pulpit was a wood plank spanning the width of the church. It remained that way until a preacher objected, thinking it too awkward.

Spring 1939 – The school at Mt. Pleasant closed. The county sold the building and land to Penn Richardson. Several months later, the church bought back the land.

1940 – Davidson Electric Company began installing electricity in the area. Until then, kerosene lamps had been used for lights, but many of the people wanted to convert to electricity. It had been hard to get the money to buy kerosene for the lamps and some wondered where the money would come from to pay the electric bill. Eventually, electrical lines were connected to the church, and the bill always has been paid.

1944 – A group met at the church, along with the new pastor, Rev. George H. Needham, to clean the church grounds. Rev. Needham spoke of a need for a new church building. Everyone was so interested in the discussion that very little work was done on the grounds. Rev. Needham soon left for the Army, and M. E. Harbin replaced him as pastor. The need for a new church building came up again, and this time, the people of the church and community went to work and dug a new basement. It was several months before any more work was done on the new church building.

1946-1947 – Rev. V. B. Stanley became the new pastor. He soon began working to get the new church building started again, and a meeting was held on February 9, 1947, to restart the effort. Lee Thayer and Carl Hill donated framing materials for the new church. Sam Kindley donated flooring, and Alson Thayer donated the heating system. Church members, friends, and community members made donations towards completing the new building. Many people also donated hours of free labor to construct the building.

Many members wanted to install stained glass windows; however, at $90 each, they were expensive for the time. Several individuals and families donated money to purchase a window to honor someone, as a memorial to a loved one, or to have a part in completing the church. Purchasers donated $50, and the church paid the remaining $40.

The pulpit furniture was made by John Patton, the alter railing was made by Rev. Stanley, and Jess Kennedy and J. M. Cashatt made the steeple. A painting of Christ in the Garden was made by Mrs. Cora Briles, who also was instrumental in teaching and church work.

May 23, 1948 – The first service was held in the current church, with seventy-two people in attendance. The service opened with the congregational hymn “I Must Tell Jesus.” J. M. Cashatt read the scripture, and Carl Crotts led the prayer. The worship service followed with the congregation singing “Amazing Grace,” and prayer by Robert Ennis. Rev. Stanley’s sermon was taken from II Chronicles 2:16. At the close of the service, the congregation gathered around the altar for a prayer of praise. A year later, on May 29, 1949, the church was dedicated, free of debt. The total cost of construction was $15,000.

1954 – A well was dug at a cost of $464. This made it more convenient to equip the church facilities with water in later years. Until then, the church had used a shallow well in use since the time of the Mt. Pleasant School.

1956 – The church fellowship building was constructed so the members would have a place to gather and enjoy food and fellowship. J. M. Cashatt and George Campbell donated the timber to construct the “hut.” Most of the carpentry work was done by Luther Pierce, Jim Cashatt, and V. A. Jester.

1965 – Jim and Etta Cashatt donated a tract of land to enlarge the church cemetery. Dating back to the founding of the church, gravestones mark many graves in our cemetery. The first to be buried there was Charter Member Luvenia Plummer in 1884. Later gifts were used to establish a cemetery fund to insure resources would be available for the upkeep of the grounds.

1970 –Mt. Pleasant received word that Rev. Charles Walker would be returning to his home church to pastor, and that he would pastor only Mt. Gilead in addition. With only two churches, worship services could be held every Sunday instead of twice per month.

February 1972 – Mt. Pleasant secured a $10,000 loan from High Point Bank & Trust to build additional Sunday School rooms and restrooms. The rooms were completed in December 1972, and the loan repaid in December 1976.

1974 – Mt. Pleasant purchased 3.34 acres of land from the Tom Crotts Estate auction, at a cost of $4,995.05. In later years, this land would become the site of the Mt. Pleasant parsonage.

1981 – Mt. Pleasant celebrated its 100th year. The church published a “History of Mt. Pleasant United Methodist Church 1881-1981” from which much of this history was taken.

November 2006 – Dismayed by policy decisions and social stances of the United Methodist Church, the congregation voted to withdraw from the denomination. The remaining members hired Rev. Brent C. Tysinger to take over as pastor. On the first Sunday of December 2006, 11 people sat in the pews.

2007-2008 – The next years brought great changes to Mt. Pleasant. The church reincorporated as Mt. Pleasant Community Church with 34 Charter Members. Rev. Tysinger arranged for the first revival held in years. One-hundred twenty people attend in one night alone. Church attendance continued to grow, and regularly began to run into the 40s. The Church also launched www.mtpleasantcommunitychurch.com, its first website.

2008 – This was a year of legal twists and turns. The Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church filed a lawsuit against several members of Mt. Pleasant, claiming all church properties. After much negotiation, Mt. Pleasant agreed to give the UMC the Mt. Pleasant parsonage and re-purchase all remaining church properties for $85,000. All legal matters were settled in December 2008, and Mt. Pleasant Community Church would have no remaining ties to the UMC. In the great words of old, “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty! We are free at last!”

2009 – Mt. Pleasant Community Church began a new chapter in its 128th year. After years of “sur-vival,” the Church pledged a commitment to “re-vival.” Our theme for 2009: “Revival!”

July 2009 - Pastor Brent Tysinger began as Mt. Pleasant's first exclusive, full-time pastor in the history of the church.

August 2009 – In In celebration and remembrance of the founding of our church in August 1881, Homecoming was celebrated on August 30, 2009, our 128th birthday, and the beginning of our 129th year.

Current

2010 - Our theme for 2010: "Worship!"

Future

What future plans does God have for Mt. Pleasant Community Church? Only He will reveal that. What is certain, however, is that for 129 years, the people of the Mt. Pleasant Church and community have stepped out on faith to do God’s work, evangelize the lost, and build a long-standing beacon, a “city on a hill,” a light of truth in a lost world. We invite you to join us in continuing to build upon that rich and faithful history. Welcome!

The First Mt. Pleasant Church

ca1881 - 1948

A History of President Herbert Hoover's Family and the Hoover Hill Community

A History of the Hoover Hill Gold Mine

Hoover Hill-Mt. Pleasant Community: "Gold and a President"

In this section, you can discover the rich history of the Hoover Hill - Mt. Pleasant community. Click on the documents below to open and view as PDF documents. For the history of Mt. Pleasant Community Church, continue reading below.