A group of Methodist ministers
made a series of evangelism visits in Baton Rouge. This led to the
organization of the East Baton Rouge Methodist Church on March 10, 1946.
They met in the Bernard Torrace School on Edison St. The Sunday School
began the following Sunday. The Woman's Society was organized on
March 26, 1946 with 21 members. There were 77 charter members as
of May 19, 1946.
First Methodist Church purchased
3 lots (for $4,500) at the corner of Ingleside and Capital Heights and
gave the property to the new congregation. A surplus Army Chapel
was purchased the following year and moved to the site. The name
was changed to Ingleside Methodist Church on May 5, 1947. Services
started in the chapel on November 23, 1947. The church was dedicated
to the memory of WW II veterans on Jan. 25, 1948 by Bishop Martin.
A surplus Army building, costing
$700, was purchased and placed next to the church in 1949. It served
as the educational building. Pastors lived in rent houses until 1951,
when a parsonage was purchased at 1411 Audubon for $14,650. In May,
1953, 3 lots on Glenmore and Capital Heights were purchased. The
church property mortgage was burned in June of 1955.
In 1957, two lots facing Ingleside
were purchased. The Children's Division Educational Building was
opened that year. Construction began on a new sanctuary in 1961.
The first service in the new church was held February 18, 1962. A
parsonage was built on Hibiscus Dr. in 1965 for $35,000. A house
on Ingleside Dr. was purchased by the church in 1967. Two more lots
on Ingleside were bought in 1970 to provide additional parking space.
The old sanctuary and annex were also torn down to provide parking space.
The third phase of the building
campaign began in 1970. It included: additional classrooms, a parlor,
a fellowship hall, a library, and a craft room. Begun in 1972, the
addition was completed in 1973 and named after Ingleside's first pastor,
Luther L. Booth.
As the population of Baton Rouge
spread out in the 1970's and 1980's, the membership at Ingleside declined.
The church purchased a house at 702 Ingleside Dr. that would house members
of the staff. The church purchased two more houses and a lot on Glenmore
Dr.
In the 1990's, the 2 houses
on Ingleside Dr. were sold, and the houses on the Glenmore lots were sold
and moved. Renovation work was done on the sanctuary in 1995.
Work was begun to convert the 3 lots on Glenmore Dr. into "Jubilee Park"
... a playground for children and an outdoor gathering place. |
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