The church was organized on
March 2, 1890. The nineteen persons in attendance were led by Rev.
C.A. King. Services were held in the old Masonic Hall for the first
eight years.
Property was acquired on the
corner of Pujo and Moss Streets in 1898 and a church built. It was
known as the First Methodist Episcopal Church. When the branches
of Methodism merged in 1939, the name was changed. Another church
in town, from the southern branch of Methodism, was called First Church
and predated them. So the congregation changed their name to the
Simpson Methodist Church, to honor a Methodist bishop. Since they
were smaller than the other First Church, they decided to move to a better
location. Property was acquired on Highway 14 and the church moved
to its new location on November 14, 1954. When the old church property
was sold for $52,000 in 1956, the funds were used to construct another
building. A third building was completed in 1959 and dedicated in
May of 1962.
In 1956, the National Board
of Missions for the Methodist Church bought property on Jefferson St. to
start a church for people moving into the university area of town.
Rev. Taylor Wall was appointed as pastor of the new church, named
St. Luke. At first, the congregation met at the Wesley Foundation
at McNeese. The church was organized on January 15, 1957 and held
its first services on Jefferson Street on February 3, 1957.
The St. Luke and Simpson congregations
merged in 1983. Dr. Charles B. Simmons pastored the merged congregation,
which first met together on Jefferson Street on April 24, 1983.
The church purchased 17 acres
of land on Country Club Road. Under the leadership of Dr. Tommy Dunbar,
construction began on a new church in the summer of 1988.
In 1999, a gym/fellowship hall
and a youth wing were built while Rev. James Humphreys served as pastor.
In 2003, Rev. Humphreys and Rev. Karl Klaus were leading the church as
money that was received from the Herbert Hadley Estate was used to add
six rooms to the office complex. |
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