From brush arbor to gothic church building, Washington Street/Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church has found strength in its history of worship and service.
In High Point’s early years, when houses of worship were limited, Wesley Memorial embraced participants of diverse creeds, including Jewish and people of color.
In High Point’s early years, when houses of worship were limited, Wesley Memorial embraced participants of diverse creeds, including Jewish and people of color.
High Point was officially chartered in 1859, but as early as 1836 (according to Rev. J. T. Smoot, pastor 1859 and 1860) in response to the appearance of the Asheboro Methodist circuit rider, Dr. Peter Doub, a group of citizens of like mind met for worship. With no church building, the group met in a brush arbor in a grove near the intersection of North Hamilton and Kivett Drive (then Washington Street) and at other times in the upper rooms of a store.
According to a letter from the Archivist of the Western North Carolina Conference quoting from the 1855 records of the North Carolina Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, “Rev. James B. Bobbitt was assigned to the Greensboro District, Greensboro Station, in 1855 as a Preacher On Trial, which probably included High Point.”
According to a letter from the Archivist of the Western North Carolina Conference quoting from the 1855 records of the North Carolina Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, “Rev. James B. Bobbitt was assigned to the Greensboro District, Greensboro Station, in 1855 as a Preacher On Trial, which probably included High Point.”
In 1856 this small group of Methodists built its first church on the brush arbor property which was given by Reuben Sechrest. It was a one room structure built of brick baked near the site of the brush arbor. Thirteen pastors served the church during its first 30 years in the small brick room where all activities of the church were conducted. In this first building on Washington Street there was no heat so the women of the congregation brought hot rocks and bricks as foot warmers. During the Civil War the church was used as a hospital for the soldiers of both North and South.
As the congregation grew, a second building was built on the same site between 1887 and 1900. In 1911, with reportedly the largest Methodist congregation in the state, a site on North Main Street was secured for a new church building. In 1914 the first service was held in this new sanctuary. An early edition of The North Carolina Christian Advocate, on its front page, pictured the building headed “the new Washington Street Methodist Church”, and quoted the cost as $60,000. Members were requested to submit suggestions for a new church name and the congregation voted to re-name the church Wesley Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Many of the early membership and financial records were destroyed by fire at the business of the elected Secretary-Treasurer. An appointed committee worked diligently to restore records wherever they could be found.
One of the towers of the church was raised in 1920 and a chime of thirteen bells was installed from funds raised by the Ladies Aid Society of the church. The original single bell from the tower on the Main Street church was then donated to Calvary Methodist Church, and is now on the grounds of Covenant United Methodist Church. This same set of 1920 bells was moved to the Chestnut Street Sanctuary Tower.
In 1926 an education building was constructed on the Wrenn Street side of the church site. In the 1950s the church’s ministry was hampered by lack of space for parking, for program expansion and a deteriorating building. In addition, with the 1939 Unification of Methodist Protestant and Methodist Episcopal Churches, High Point had two of the largest Methodist Churches one city block apart, and an expanding residential area in the Northern area of the city not served by a neighborhood Methodist church. In 1964 the Methodist Church merged with the United Bretheren Church and became the United Methodist Church of today.
Because of many factors, it was decided that the church should move to another location. By vote of the congregation in January of 1953, nineteen acres of land at the corner of Chestnut and Westchester was purchased as the new church site. Ground was broken on June 29, 1958, and the cornerstone was laid on October 4, 1959. Our first service of worship was held on October 16, 1960. On that date, the service was begun at the Main Street building, and every member present participated by transporting some item used in worship (including hymn books) from the old church to the temporary sanctuary established in the Fellowship Hall, where worship was held until such time as the first phase of construction was paid in full.
After the indebtedness on the first phase of the building program was retired, construction of the sanctuary building was begun. On March 3, 1968, the first service of worship was held in the newly constructed Sanctuary, beginning a full week of celebrating the move. When all indebtedness on the church was retired, the church was dedicated with a special celebration on March 18, 1973.
After the indebtedness on the first phase of the building program was retired, construction of the sanctuary building was begun. On March 3, 1968, the first service of worship was held in the newly constructed Sanctuary, beginning a full week of celebrating the move. When all indebtedness on the church was retired, the church was dedicated with a special celebration on March 18, 1973.
The impressive Gothic structure was designed by Harold E. Wagoner, of Philadelphia, foremost living church architect in America and probably the world, who counts it his masterpiece in Gothic; joining him in preparation of the working drawings and supervision of construction over the years of its production was Charles C. Hartmann, a veteran architect of Greensboro who has done many outstanding structures in North Carolina.
The general contractor was R.K. Stewart & Son of High Point. R. T. Amos headed the building committee named during the pastorate of Dr. Walter J. Miller. Dr. C. C. Herbert, Jr., was pastor during the building of the first part of the structure and through the first year of its occupancy. The stained glass
windows in the Chapel are the work of the late A. W. Klemme of High Point Glass & Decorative Company, and the sanctuary windows were created by Henry Lee Willet of the Willet Stained Glass Studios in Philadelphia.
The sanctuary organ was built by Austin Organs, Incorporated of Hartford, Connecticut, a respected firm building fine instruments for the churches of America since 1899. Dr. Robert Baker, dean of the School of Sacred Music, Union Seminary, New York City, served as a consultant in the selection and design
Our Church History ...