At some time before 1908, Port
Barre was being visited by Methodist circuit riders. The pioneer
of the French Mission, Martin Hebert, made Port Barre one of his stopping
points. He would arrive by train on Saturdays and walk to an area
where a tent was erected. A pump organ was used to provide the music.
Lanterns were used for light, since the services were held at night.
Services were also held on some Sunday mornings. When a wind blew
the tent down in 1909 (and it was too rotten to raise again), services
were held in a school house on the banks of Bayou Courtableau near
the train depot. When they soon became too crowded, the congregation
began meeting at "The Old John LeBlanc Saloon" (which included an upstairs
room with a blood-stained floor where a murder had been committed).
A Sunday School was organized in 1912. Services were held on the
first floor, while older Sunday School classes and box suppers were held
on the second floor. Around this time, Rev. William Falcon was often
making the trip with Rev. Hebert.
Rev. Falcon was present when
the church, consisting of 8 members, was organized on May 9, 1913 as the
Port Barre Methodist Episcopal Church, South. By 1916, membership
was up to 34. The first church building was built in 1919.
A building project, which included an educational building, was undertaken
(and completed in 1951) to accommodate a growing congregation. The
first resident pastor arrived in 1957 and a parsonage for Rev. C.J. Thibodeaux
in 1958.
By 1968, the congregation needed
more room. Property was purchased on the corner of Cora Miller and
Virginia Elizabeth Streets. The first service was held in the new
building by Rev. J.D. Strozier on April 8, 1971. |
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