Two Methodist churches were
founded in Jonesboro in 1902. One was Methodist Protestant and the
other was Methodist Episcopal, South. The Methodist Protestant church
built its first building in 1902 on the corner of South Allen and Seventh.
The land was given to the church in June 1902 by J.S. Cargile. The
church was rebuilt in 1932.
The Methodist Episcopal, South
church had ten charter members. They were led by Rev. M.H. Honeycutt.
They first built a parsonage (1903) and then a church (1905). The
church was located on the corner of Fourth and Cooper.
One year after the merger of
three branches of Methodism, the two Jonesboro churches merged. Dr.
D.B. Rawlings led the ceremony on October 27, 1940. The funds from
the sale of the Methodist Protestant church were used to help build a new
church at the corner of Fourth and Cooper. A two-story education
building, built on Cooper Avenue in 1941, was used for services during
the construction of the new church. After seven months of construction,
at a cost of $75,000, the first service in the new church was held on October
8, 1950. The education building was later turned into a fellowship
hall.
A new parsonage costing $40,000
was built on Cooper Avenue in 1959. A new education building costing
$118,000 was built on Fourth St. in December 1968. In September 1987,
the former Rundell school property was purchased for $27,855. This
brought the total church property to five acres. |
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