BY DENNIS BARTLOW
Members of the Eugene (Ind.) United Methodist Church will mark a major milestone on its Homecoming Sunday, Sept. 20, with the 150th anniversary of its present building.
“We started planning for this about nine months ago,” said Eliza Porter, a member of the anniversary committee. “We have invited former members and pastors. We are expecting a good turnout.”
Porter is one of the younger members of the congregation. She returned to the Eugene-Cayuga area after going away to Ball State University.
“It is a rewarding thing to come back,” she said. “I have started a youth group.”
That is one of things that the congregations prides on.
“The youth group wants to be involved,” Porter said. “We deliver cookies to the nursing homes. We are here to have fun serving God.”
Average attendance at worship is 30-35. The Rev. Jon Overbey has been the pastor since 1985.
The present building was built in 1859 by E.B. Johnson and his brother, William, on a lot purchased for $100. The land was bought from Milo and Maria Hosford on July 11, 1854. The deed stipulated that the church be a Methodist Episcopal Church.
When the church was being built, the call for men for the Civil War was issued, so they got down from their ladders and went to war. The church stood unfinished until they returned.
“We are very proud of our old church with the original walnut pews and the old pendulum clock on the wall that still keeps pretty good time,” said Peggy Yoho, historian, in a history of the church. “Our church was an important part of Eugene history. Church, Sunday school, revival meetings, Christmas programs, amateur theatricals, Decoration Day exercises, weddings and funerals — what a story it could tell.”
During the years there have been a lot of changes to the church. The belfry was taken off in the 1940s by John Hays. In 1958 a gas furnace replaced two old cannon stoves.
Two classrooms were made in the back of the church, and the inside of the church was painted in 1959. In the 1960s, the church pews were painted tan by Elsie Hawn. The ceiling was lowered by Earl Spencer.
The church borrowed $2,000 from the bank to start adding a basement. It includes a kitchen and large meeting room.
“On Easter Sunday in 1964, we had a record 175 in attendance for Sunday school,” Yoho said.
A new hardwood floor and choir loft was put in by Robert Lewis in 1966. In 1973, the inside of the church was paneled by church members.
“In 2003 the west side of the church was falling in,” Yoho said. “We had the beam that was breaking repaired by an Amish group from Parke County. They also repaired the pillars in front of the church, which were rotting at the bottom.”
A new steeple was given to the church in memory of Sam Hawn.
“We no longer have the chicken and noodle dinners, mother-daughter banquets, Father’s Day ice cream social, hard-time parties, Bible schools and other good time events because of low attendance,” Yoho said. “We still have the holiday dinners, Christ-mas programs, Easter breakfast and we collect items for the Kentucky Mission and serve meals to families who have lost loved ones.”
Although the present building is 150 years old, the Methodists in Eugene are believed to be as old as the community itself. The first church was on a bluff near the Eugene Cemetery on Water Street. The building has long since disappeared leaving no trace of its name or size. There is no record of the date it was destroyed.
“We may not be a big congregation, but we are very close and loving church family, always looking for one another,” Yoho said. “We are very proud of our church, and we are here to serve God in all the ways we can.”
EUGENE CELEBRATION
The Eugene United Methodist Church will observe the 150th anniversary of its building during its Homecoming on Sept 20. Sunday School is at 9:45 a.m. EDT; worship, 10:45 a.m.; and a program at 2 p.m., with a reception following.
