Amy Campbell Children and Family Missioner Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina

Church building HISTORY: 1846-2019

Letter of the alphabet FROM REV. JAY MINNICK

Friends, worship is about engaging people in the life and ministry building of the church. Information technology is near engaging people in our lives and in the life of God. United Methodist Bishop Robert Schnase writes:

We don't attend worship to squeeze God into our lives; we seek to meld our lives into God's.

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People accept been gathering to worship at Pleasant Grove for about 175 years in order to meld their lives into God'southward life. Recall of all the folks who have walked through these doors across those years. The 1840s! We accept been here since the 1840s.

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When Pleasant Grove historic its 20th anniversary the Civil War was raging. Orville and Wilbur's historic flight in Kill Devil Hills occurred shortly after Pleasant Grove's 50th altogether. The Titanic went down as our 70 th altogether approached. World State of war II was concluding at the centennial. Well, y'all get the point. Pleasant Grove has been here for a long time, and across these many years there has never been a shortage of faithful people in this identify who have kept the faith. They have told the stories. They have held Christmas pageants. They have baptized people into the faith. They have taught their kids most what information technology means to be a disciple. They have extended the paw of Christ into this community and into the world. We are part of a smashing tradition--a nifty deject of witnesses. This is where we worship. This is our identify, and this is our ministry building, only only because of the folks that take come before usa.

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Periodically, I will have a walk through the cemetery hither at the church. William Smith 1860, William Henry Cooper 1894, Charlie Smith 1910, Sue Honeycutt 1914, Sallie Hailey 1923, B. Eastward. Emory 1930, Joseph Kelly 1948, Frank Emory 1952, Claude Edwards 1969, Lena House 1973, Effie Kelly 1983. Practice you know whatsoever of these names? You should. They went before you and fabricated this community possible. Naomi said to Ruth, 'Go back to your dwelling. Go back to your people. Get back to your community.' Just Ruth said, 'No.' She said:

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'Do non press me to exit you or to plow back from following yous! Where you go, I will go; where y'all guild, I volition lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.'

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Well-nigh of us who now telephone call Pleasant Grove our habitation, did non abound up in this church. When you terminate and call up well-nigh information technology the odds of all of us finding our way to Pleasant Grove are astronomically pocket-sized. Retrieve about it. Canada, Guatemala, California, Ohio, Virginia, Michigan, Florida, Maryland, Zebulon, Derby, and Farmville. What are the odds? Is it by gamble that we take gathered from across this world in this place to be a community chosen Pleasant Grove? Mayhap. Or is information technology something else? I have heard it called a God thing. Could it be a God affair?

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We believe that our mission, our reason for existing, is to be the body of Christ in the world. That's been our mission since 24-hour interval ane. The Campaigner Paul wrote to the church in Corinth:

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'Now you lot are the body of Christ and individually members of information technology.'

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For 175 years the customs at Pleasant Grove has taken Paul seriously equally we have attempted to welcome all with radical hospitality, engage all in ministry, and to enable all to abound spiritually. We should all exist immensely proud to be part of a community chosen Pleasant Grove. I hope you enjoy reading your story.

Peace,

Jay

INTRODUCTION: YOUR STORY WANTED

"Since its commencement as a small, rural church, Pleasant Grove United Methodist Church building has grown with the times.  It is now a church with an outreach beyond the immediate community."

Jo Ann Smith, 1984

     In the starting time, at that place was merely oral history.  Though written documentation merely shows Pleasant Grove United Methodist Church'south
existence get-go in 1856, the church held its centennial commemoration in 1946.  Evidently, information technology was understood that a decade of meetings in the vicinity prior to the official date of 1856 were role of the creation of the church.

     That mix of retentiveness and official records is the challenge of writing history.  As much as possible, we relied on a paper trail of deeds, wills, invoices, old bulletins, emails, and meeting minutes.  To add heart to the history, nosotros asked for and received personal stories.

     This latest version of the church'southward history builds on the piece of work of past historian Foye Lee Beck or publications by Jo Ann Smith quoted, in part, above.  Much has inverse over the past 174+ years, yet this basic truth of her observation hasn't changed — PGUMC has grown with the times and the community.

     This history is presented in chronological society past century.  Yous can read information technology straight through or skip around if you wish.  Separate sections embrace committees, music, missions and outreach, and our cemetery.  The goal was to give these topics more depth.  Fifty-fifty then, there'due south much that has been left out.

     We realize, with humility, that so much has been omitted for lack of time or resource.  Much more could be said most Sun school and some amazing teachers, the United Methodist Men and United Methodist Women, or Scouting.  The Preschool alone could have its own section.

     For the online version of this history, we offering anyone the chance to help us fill these gaps. Updates could be done at whatsoever fourth dimension.  Simply accomplish out to united states of america.

     At the terminate of several sections at that place are testimonials — the personal stories that bring color to the facts.  If your story would add to the PGUMC story, contact us.  We will make your story part of the online version whenever y'all're prepare.

     Finally, even though this content has been read and re-read past us and others, mistakes happen.  If you discover mistakes of accuracy or grammar, permit us know.

     Thanks for sharing your stories with usa.

PGUMC History Task Force:

Linda McCabe                                                                                                  Jane Albright

lindamccabe6431@gmail.comjanealbright3@gmail.com

1800s: A COUNTRY CHURCH

     Our story begins effectually 1846 when a group of Christian believers of the Methodist faith gathered under a grove of trees in Northwestern Wake Canton, Northward Carolina, to worship God.  Around this time our land was at the peak of a Protestant religious revival – a motion known as The 2nd Neat Awakening.  This movement began around 1790, gained momentum by 1800 and, after 1820, caused a bang-up rise in members among Baptist and Methodist congregations whose preachers led the movement.  Out of this religious climate came the founding of many new Methodist churches, including Pleasant Grove Methodist Episcopal Church building Due south, aptly named by this initial grouping because of the serene setting in which the people gathered.  While there are no documents proving that our church began in 1846, previous writings of our church history land that our church had its 100th anniversary service in 1946.  Therefore, it tin can be ascertained that at that place has been a congregation gathering for worship services since 1846.

     Christian gathering places during those early on years were usually outside along clay roads known to attract weary travelers and attended past people who shared similar beliefs.  During inclement weather condition, services would often move inside to a farmhouse or to a store.  When omnipresence increased, they held their services in a community store.  In C. Franklin Grill'due south Early Methodist Meeting Houses in Wake County, North Carolina, Grill indicated that the congregation of the Pleasant Grove Church met at a place called Edward'southward Store.   Grill wrote extensively almost black memberships in the early history of Methodists.  During this expansion, Grill states, "no special consideration was being given to the blackness members who in many places were becoming more numerous than white members. Both groups attended services, merely the blacks were separated in the seating organisation. Often they used the same facilities for public services at dissimilar hours. It was becoming credible that blacks had different religious expectations and desired a more center-felt expression of their religion, and this caused a conflict in the more proper public meetings. Another factor that was start to separate the church racially was that religious education began to take a office of the more progressive church program and blacks were forbidden to receive formal education. All of these changes caused issues and nil was offered to relieve the tension."  It was written by Jo Ann Smith in a prior record of our church that, "...There were both white and black members in the original church...some of the black members remained with our church  for the residue of their lives...and in our church building cemetery are graves of a number of our blackness members." The largest headstone in the blackness section of our cemetery belongs to Richard Chavis (1842-1914).

     In May of 1856, John King, son of Susan and William Smith, deeded 1 acre of land to Wesley Smith, 'for a public grave m (sic) and coming together house and for no other purpose so long equally time remains on this Earth, in consideration of dearest and affection to the trustees of the Pleasant Grove Methodist Episcopal Church building South.' Although land had been provided in the 1856 deed, there is no official record of the exact appointment the original meeting business firm was constructed.  Withal, a life-time member of the church, the late Mrs. William T. Smith (née Malissa Thompson), born August 30, 1853, spoke of her memory of the church edifice to her grandson, Wilton Kelly.  Mrs. Smith's recollection lends credence to the belief that a small one-room wooden structure was congenital around 1856.  There is a hand-fatigued picture dated 1856 of a meeting business firm shown on our pictorial timeline.

     In those early days of American Methodist revival, churches such as Pleasant Grove did non have their own pastors because there were non enough to go effectually.  Church members would atomic number 82 worship and exercise the preaching on most Sundays.  On a regular rotation, a Methodist Pastor – known as a excursion rider– would come to these gatherings to preach, serve communion, baptize babies, or perform marriages.  A 'excursion' (nowadays referred to as a multi-point charge) was a geographic area that encompassed several local churches.  Pastors met each year at Almanac Conference where their bishops would appoint them either to a new excursion or to remain at the aforementioned ane.  One time a pastor was assigned a excursion, it was his responsibleness to acquit worship and visit members of each church in his accuse on a regular ground, in add-on to possibly establishing new churches.  He was supervised by a Presiding Elderberry (at present called a District Superintendent) who would visit each charge iv times a year, which was known as the Quarterly Conference.

     Pleasant Grove Church was part of five unlike circuits in this order: commencement the Wake Circuit, then Rolesville, Millbrook, Jenkins Memorial, and Westover.  While not all the names of the early excursion riders who preached at Pleasant Grove Church building can be established, a list of many of the ministers who accept served hither (Pastors and their respective circuit) can be found in this history.

     Let'due south take a look at how Pleasant Grove Methodist Episcopal Church building South acquired the first few parcels of land for our campus:

May 1856 – a church building building was beginning established

The initial one acre of belongings was donated from J.T. and Mary Edwards to the Trustees of the Pleasant Grove Methodist Episcopal Church building, South, for the sum of $one.00 and in consideration of love and affection.

The Civil War (1861-1865)

We would be remiss if we did not discuss the Civil State of war and its likely impact on our church building.  The state of war created many hardships for the civilians of Wake Canton and probable some members of the Pleasant Grove Methodist Episcopal Church South.  Later on Major General Sherman of the Union Army burned Atlanta, his army marched to the sea in Georgia.  Without supply lines, Sherman's army took from the civilian population whatever foodstuffs they deemed necessary to sustain the Union soldiers.  In some cases, a scorched earth policy was implemented in conducting total war against the Confederate states (more $100 million in belongings damage in Georgia alone as estimated past Sherman).  This war machine policy included burning of noncombatant homes, barns, and destruction of crops still in the fields.  After capturing Savannah, Sherman'south army proceeded north to Columbia, SC, and then into Due north Carolina, including Wake County and Raleigh in 1865.  The largest contingent of Union troops in Raleigh bivouacked at Dix Hill.  An agronomical census was conducted in 1860 and 1870 in many townships in the Southward.  This census provides significant evidence of the economic devastation of civilian property and starvation suffered by the inhabitants of our Northward Carolina farmland during and after the Civil War.  After the Civil State of war, a period of reconstruction took place from 1865 to 1877 in which America tried to reunite post-obit the horrors of the Civil State of war.  President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on April 15, 1865, just days after the war concluded, so President Andrew Johnson led the country through Reconstruction.  The economic impact on the South and its inhabitants lasted through the entire reconstruction period.  During this economic recovery period, the membership of Pleasant Grove Methodist Episcopal Church building Due south connected to abound.

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January 1867

An additional one acre of land was sold to the trustees (Simon Lynn, Benjamin Lynn, David Smith) of Pleasant Grove for $10 by John Q. Adams, Jr. and wife, Sarah J.  This land was on the north side of Cedar Fork Road.

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     In a rural community such as the House Creek District to which Pleasant Grove belonged at this time, a church building served other important functions.  Non simply was it a place to worship, it was the primary place for many community events.  The Pleasant Grove 'meeting house' had not merely Sunday School classes and church building services merely other community activities as well.

1900s: GROWING WITH RALEIGH

     By the turn of a new century, the members of the church had begun to feel the need for a new building.  In 1903 the 2nd church building was synthetic.  It was defended in 1907 with the Reverend R. J. John providing the dedication sermon.  The new building was a big one-room wooden construction.  For Dominicus School information technology was divided into classrooms using defunction.  A pot-bellied stove in the centre provided heat in the winter.  The beginning fellow member to arrive on Sunday started the burn down in the stove and information technology took some time to heat upwards the room.  Emma Layton, who attended this church all her life, remembered "Nosotros nigh froze before the church got warm."

     Upon completion of this new church, the members were broken-hearted to take their get-go service in it.  New slat benches were built and installed.  Trying to have everything complete and gear up for the service on Sunday, the members quickly painted the benches.  The color chosen was blood-red.  On Sunday members of the church gathered with a sense of excitement to attend the first service in the new building.  They entered and seated themselves on the new red benches.  It was non until they stood upwardly to sing that it was discovered that the pigment on the benches had not dried.  There were red streaks on the men'south pants and many new dresses were ruined that twenty-four hours.

     Pleasant Grove Methodist Episcopal Church S acquired additional parcels of land for our campus in the 20th century:

March 1915 – front part of the original lot

An additional one acre of state was donated to the church by J.T. and Mary Edwards to the Trustees of the Pleasant Grove Methodist Episcopal Church South for the sum of $ane.00

December 1915 – west of original lot

Another one acre of country was purchased from the Wake County Board of Teaching to the Trustees of the Pleasant Grove Methodist Episcopal Church, Due south, for the sum of $20.00 and for the "Devine (sic) worship for the use of the ministry and membership of the Methodist Episcopal Church building, South (residence for the use and occupancy of the preachers of the Methodist Episcopal Church building."

February 1916 – s of the schoolhouse board tract and west of the graveyard

A one-half-acre of land was sold by W.T. Smith and Malissa Smith to the Trustees of the Pleasant Grove Methodist Episcopal Church building, Southward, for the sum of $20.00 .

The Methodist Episcopal Church, the Methodist Protestant Church building and the Methodist Episcopal Church South merged in 1939 to become the Methodist Church.

1943 -

An interesting aside to our property acquisition history is the selling of the acre of land given to Pleasant Grove Methodist Church in 1867 past John Q. and Sarah J. Adams, Jr.  Considering of a judgment filed past the U. Due south. Government during WWII, ownership of this land was transferred on April xx, 1943, to the United states of america of America.  The church was paid $ii,025.  In addition to many more acres acquired in this judgment, the land became office of the Durham-Raleigh Air Back up Command Base of operations.

     In 1949, an additional iv classrooms and key heating were added and the Sanctuary was renovated and served the congregation for several more than years.

     In 1953, Rev. Jack Crumb was the pastor.  Nether Rev. Crumb'due south direction, on January 31, 1954, a big edifice program began.  The committee consisted of J. M. Moore, D. L. Davis, Norman Kelly, and Wilton Kelly.  The following work was achieved: a remodel of the vestibule, 2 entrances in front end of the antechamber replacing side entrances, physical steps for the building and the classrooms, storage closets, remodel of a classroom for the church building role and pastor's study, and a church library.  The library was given in retentivity of J. South. Kelly, the structure superintendent.  Much of the labor for this effort was provided by church building members and they were able to bring this program in for approximately $7,500.  At this time there were 115 church building members.

     In 1956, the second renovation took identify providing a kitchen and a fellowship hall.  This addition is at present called the basement of the Mattie Bell building. In an interview conducted by Colleen Starkes in 2003, Mattie Bell stated that she was the first leader of the United Methodist Women.

     Starting in 1958, the church building engaged in building a parsonage.  The land for the house was donated by Lena Jackson House in March of 1959.  This parsonage at 6401 Pleasant Pines Dr., Raleigh, was later sold and a new parsonage at 2908 Dunkirk Dr., Raleigh, was purchased in 2002.

     Effectually 1961, the congregation was called upon to make an especially of import decision that might take inverse the form of our church'south history.  As a souvenir from the Cliff Benson family, the congregation was offered the opportunity to close down its electric current location, move to a new location on the highway, and bring together with other local congregations to get what is now Benson Memorial Church.  The congregation firmly declined.  It was also in 1961 that Pleasant Grove Methodist Church became a station church with its own total-time government minister, Reverend Jack Hunter, for the first time.

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February 1966 – west side of original lot to course a driveway

A ½ acre of land for the driveway was sold to the Trustees of the Pleasant Grove Methodist Church past Emma Layton for the sum of $x to be used as a driveway.

The merger in 1968 that formed the United Methodist Church building brought together the Methodist Church building, primarily of British groundwork, and the Evangelical United Brethren Church, primarily of German background but very similar to the Methodists.

     The third church building building was constructed in 1968.  This modern brick Sanctuary was consecrated on Sunday, December 29, 1968.  Wilton Kelly was chairman of the building committee, Morris Moorefield was the treasurer of the building fund, and Charles Davis was the architect.  According to an October 28, 1967, article written in The Raleigh Times, this project cost over $100,000 and states that groundbreaking services for this building project were held on Sunday, October 29, 1967.

     Every bit of July ane, 1984, there were 390 members in our church as reported by JoAnn Smith in the 1984 version of PGUMC'southward History.  Two of our older members of our church in 1984 were:

• Emma Smith Layton, the daughter of William Thomas Smith and Malissa Webb Thompson. Ms. Layton celebrated her 91st birthday on February 26, 1984, and

• Norman H. Kelly, who historic his 92nd altogether on Dec 27, 1983.  Mr. Kelly'southward married woman, the belatedly Mattie Judson Smith, was some other daughter of William Thomas Smith and Malissa Webb Thompson.

     On September 15, 1985, our church held a wonderful Homecoming Day commemoration.  The Reverend Rufus Stark, Executive Director of the Methodist Domicile for Children, was the guest speaker at the Sun morning service.  The public was invited and following the eleven:00 a.m. service, there was a picnic on the church grounds.

     Reverend Curtis Campbell was the pastor when the 4th major addition project began in 1990.

The scope of this project included a new fellowship hall, 6 new classrooms, 2 bathrooms and paving of the parking lot.  The church began discussions, research, and interviewing contractors as far back as 1988.  It appears from reading the notes preserved on this projection that the actual groundbreaking was in mid-1990.  The cap on this project was $500,000.  There were 3 committees steering this project: Building, Building Finance Sub-Committee, and Building Public Relations and Communications Sub-Committee.  John Ramsay was the architect and the construction contract was awarded to Jedco.

     Pastor Jay Minnick joined our church family in 1993 at the age of 31.  Rev. Minnick is the son of Bishop Carlton and Mary Ann Minnick and PGUMC was his showtime church.  Jay was ordained in 1995.  In the early on 1990'due south, there was a 2-footstep ordination procedure.  You lot were ordained a deacon and so after two years of full-time service you were eligible for ordination as an elder.  Jay was ordained a deacon in June 1990.  He was in graduate school at the fourth dimension, so he did not complete his two years of total-time service until afterward his appointment to Pleasant Grove.  He was appointed to Pleasant Grove in June 1993, and eligible for elder'south orders in June 1995.

     The ordination process has inverse significantly since those days, but information technology remains an exceedingly long and complicated process.

     Our church building connected to grow and on June 4, 1995, we began two services each Sunday: one at 8:30 a.thou. and another at 11:00 a.1000. Unfortunately, this viii:30 service and some other service on Midweek evenings were non successful and so were discontinued. The 8:30 service was reinstated on Easter Sun, Apr 11, 2005, and continues to abound as of this 2022 writing.  Of note in 1995, were two of our oldest church members:

• Mrs. Vivian Edwards (1903-2003) and

• Mrs. Foye Lee Beck (1922-2012).

     In the fall of 1997, new paraments were requested for the church.  The original cloths beingness used had been fabricated by Evelyn Castleberry'due south mother, Evelyn J. Mercer, many years before.

     Elizabeth Lewis designed and sewed the following motorcar-embroidered cloths:

• One pulpit textile

• One Bible bookmark

• Ii altar cloths

     Each set was completed in red, green, white, and majestic.  The white cloths were starting time used at the Christmas Eve candlelight service of Dec 1997.  The Ladies' Circle provided the funds for the materials used.

2000s: VISIONARY GROWTH

     By the early 2000s, the xi a.m. service in the Sanctuary was packed most Sundays, sometimes uncomfortably full.  A growing congregation increased the responsibilities of the Rev. Jay Minnick.  In his early on years at PGUMC he did it all, starting with making the coffee every Lord's day morning.  During the week he was assisted by an office manager, a position that has been held by Julie Lebria since 2005.  That was no longer enough.  In 2002, our church purchased a new parsonage at 2908 Dunkirk Drive in Raleigh.  In 2009, the Minnicks purchased this home from the church.

     Growth in omnipresence put a strain on the church edifice and the church staff.  Strategic planning sessions led by staff and laity in the early on 2000s sought to tackle these challenges. Manifestly, expansion of both facilities and staff were needed.  New worship services were added in hopes of lessening the strain on the eleven:00 a.m. service while as well offering new service styles to concenter new people to the church.  Boosted talent was added to the church staff. And finally, the edifice itself was expanded, but it was more than a decade from the spark of an thought to a newly expanded and renovated facility.

Staff Additions

     Over the years a serial of seminary students served internships at PGUMC, simply the time came to add together to the permanent staff.  Julie Hilton Steele was hired as Director of Emerging Ministries in 2003.  She took responsibleness for Sunday schoolhouse and managing volunteers.

Assistance with edifice maintenance was needed.  The PGUMC buildings and grounds are the responsibility of the Board of Trustees, which includes everything from unlocking the church on Sundays to getting a roof leak repaired.  The maintenance issues grew with the age of the facility and ofttimes occurred when a trustee wasn't bachelor. At the urging of church building staff, who were well-nigh often around when something bankrupt or an emergency clean-upwardly was needed, the Staff-Parish Relations Committee agreed to hire a custodian.  Warren Williams became PGUMC'southward offset custodian in November 2013.  Arya Jamshidi was hired as weekend custodian in July 2015.

The following persons have served on the PGUMC staff since 2000:

• Melody Hall, Preschool Managing director, 1997-2005.

• Julie Hilton Steele, Director of Emerging Ministries, 2003-2006.

• Cathy Anderson, Preschool Director, 2005-2020.

• Lucinda Sullivan, Program Managing director and Volunteer Coordinator, 2007-2014.

• Rev. Meredith Snider, Associate Pastor, 2011-2012.

• Warren Williams, Custodian, 2013 to present.

• Rev. Erin Simpson Pearce, Director of Family Ministries, 2014-2016.

• Ashley Yohman, Volunteer Coordinator, hired in 2022 and transitioned to Director of Connecting Ministries in 2022 to nowadays.

• Steven Hall, The Grove Ring and Children'south Choir, 2022 to 2019

• Rev. Ballad Van Buskirk, Minister of Not-Traditional Worship, 2019-2020.

eight:xxx Service

     The get-go solution to the infinite problem was to add another service in hopes of reducing numbers at the 11 a.grand. service.  The 8:30 a.m. service was added on Easter Sunday, April 11, 2005.  Weekly Communion was added to this service on March 5, 2006.  Attendance was low at first, only a core grouping attended regularly from the starting time.  Past 2019, seventy to 100 persons nourish each week.

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Vision and Mission

     In the spring of 2006, PGUMC kicked off a visioning procedure with a day-long workshop led by Dr. Lovett Weems from the Lewis Center for Church Leadership in Virginia.  He had done his homework past measuring the pews in the Sanctuary. Allotting each person 30 inches of pew space, he estimated the Sanctuary could comfortably hold 184 persons. With more than 200 in omnipresence each week, even with some of them children, the crowding would discourage newcomers, he said, and threaten further growth.

     That workshop led to a series of meetings that culminated in a new mission and vision argument for PGUMC:

• Mission: We exist to exist the Body of Christ in the World

• Vision: To reach all through hospitality, engage all in ministry and enable all to abound spiritually.

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Hyder House

     The Hyder House, located across the street from the church building, wasn't on whatever strategic plan.  Instead, it was the result of unexpected generosity and blessings.  The aptly named Hyder House was purchased in 2009 with donations from the estates of Christine Firm and Noah Hyder.  Christine Business firm and her family had been active members of PGUMC for generations.  Noah Hyder had served every bit the lead usher for a couple of decades.  Upon their deaths, they loved the church enough to exit a legacy.

     Soon after their generous gifts, the house beyond the street became available.  The Authoritative Council agreed to pursue the purchase.  Once information technology became church property, information technology took nearly of a year to bring it upward-to-code for a public edifice and to brand it handicap accessible.  Much of the work was done by church building members, particularly Randy Callahan.  As trustee chair, Mike Lakey signed many of the official documents and led the renovations.

     The Hyder Firm, named for the generous donors who made it possible, is used for adult Sunday schoolhouse classes and meetings during the calendar week.

The Grove

     The Grove service launched on September 11, 2011.  This tertiary worship service occurs during the Sunday school hour of nine:45 to 10:45 a.chiliad. in the Fellowship Hall.  While it too, reduces the crowding in the Sanctuary at eleven a.m., it also was created to see the needs of churchgoers interested in a different style to do church.

     The Grove seeks to exist a more than contemplative and reflective service, according to Rev. Minnick.  It'south adult-oriented, without the usual children's fourth dimension since children would be in Dominicus schoolhouse.  He describes information technology as a non-traditional service, with music played past a small band including both gimmicky worship music and popular music by artists similar U2.  (Run into Music section.)  Weekly Communion is function of the non-traditional service at the Grove.

     Attendance at the Grove services ranges from 70 to 100 people, with the room often filled to capacity.  Many newcomers who became Grove regulars never entered or attended worship services in the Sanctuary.

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Growing Pains

     Before the Grove moved into the Fellowship Hall, a fellowship fourth dimension of java and snacks occurred during the time between Lord's day school and the 11 am service.

     In the starting time Visioning workshop in 2006, Dr. Weems had recommended a review every 5 to 10 years. In the autumn of 2013, the Congregational Visioning Retreat was held to revisit the mission and vision statements and appraise where the church stood.  The vision and mission statements still inspired, merely some issues had increased.

     Since the final workshop seven years earlier, the buildings' shortcomings had grown, even with the improver of the Hyder Firm. The workshop attendees listed the problems:

• Lack of a dedicated space for hospitality and fellowship each Lord's day so that members from all services could get to know each other.

• More than infinite for seating needed in the Fellowship Hall for the growing Grove service.

• Sanctuary needed remodeling and updating of the sound arrangement.

• Multi-layered chancel surface area was a tripping hazard and made moving the 1000 piano difficult.

• Minor office area crowded the staff.

• Restrooms in the Sanctuary building congenital in 1968 were cramped, inadequate for a larger congregation, and non-compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

• Expansion and renovation required for kitchen

• More storage required.

• The aging HVAC needed replacement.

     These issues and others were shared with everyone at the Congregational Envisioning Day held Nov 23, 2013.

The Next Affiliate

     Adjacent steps involved determining which renovations PGUMC could beget by knowing how much PGUMC members would contribute to a capital letter campaign.  As chairperson of the Ad Quango, Republic of chad Simmons led an Envisioning process that began with the germination of iii teams to address recommendations: Facilities, led by Larry Mosiman; Programs, Relationships and Generosity, led by Lucinda Sullivan and Kim Arwood; and Organization and Staffing, led past Bob Starkes.  Through a serial of meetings over many months, the groups considered what they wanted PGUMC to do and how to practice it.

     On March 29, 2015, the results of their deliberations were sent to the entire congregation in a Vision Study Bulletin signed by Larry Mosiman.  It included suggested changes in programs, staffing and how committees are organized.  But it was the listing of facility issues that the congregation wanted to further study.

     The Facilities team, led by Larry Mosiman, considered ways to solve the facility shortcomings.  On September 5, 2015, it was announced that Jason Byrd from Phillips Architecture had been selected to develop conceptual plans.  8 months later, on May 22, 2016, the master plan was unveiled.

     Several meetings were held with the congregation to review the plans and make suggestions.  Larger restrooms, kitchen and Fellowship Hall were appreciated.  These early plans included expanding the Education building by extending the back wall to create a large activity room, and have a room defended to music.

     Now it was fourth dimension to encounter what PGUMC could afford.  Capital letter campaigns crave expertise not institute in most congregations.  Church building capital campaigns are specially specialized.  After a search, in Apr 2022 Pat Luna from Alabama was selected equally the capital campaign consultant.  She had worked with several other North Carolina United Methodist churches and came highly recommended.

     Ms. Luna got to know many church members by meeting with them one on i.  By mid-2016, she had created a campaign team consisting of 18 groups responsible for, among other matters, prayers, worship, education, devotion, and youth.  Many PGUMC members were involved. The theme was selected: God'south Vision: The Next Chapter.

     The campaign logo appeared on brochures, pamphlets, and postcards.  Smitty Harvell built a miniature church where each block represented i of PGUMC's values, such equally music and fellowship.  A daily devotion guide given to all members offered reflections from a different PGUMC member for each day of the campaign, Oct 30 to November 20, 2016.

     When it was over, PGUMC members had pledged $1.2 1000000 over 3 years.

     Most of the twelvemonth 2022 was spent creating a principal plan that would fit that budget.  Gone from the final design were the activity room and music room.  The priority was given to building the Welcome Center, and expanding the Fellowship Hall, the kitchen, and the offices.  The new restrooms would offer much more than room. The sanctuary was remodeled to make the chancel area more attainable.

     At a church building conference on November v, 2017, the congregation voted unanimously to proceed with structure and renovations.

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Before Photo, 2017

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Logistics and Structure

     The year 2022 became the year of planning. Diamond Contracting, Inc. was selected as the builder in the fall of 2017.

     Renovations would require all activities in the Sanctuary building be moved elsewhere, which included the offices.  A construction site isn't conducive to a preschool, and so the preschool would take to move.  Where would worship services be held? Where would the preschool get – or would it take a year off?

     The Preschool commission voted unanimously that the preschool would remain on PGUMC grounds by moving to the Hyder Business firm.  Church building staff would and so move into the Education building.  All worship services would move into the Fellowship Hall, even during the construction to enlarge it.

     The final service in the Sanctuary earlier structure was Christmas Eve, 2017.  Structure would beginning January 11, 2018.  That gave the staff and congregation a couple of weeks during the holidays to move. This task was led past Bob Starkes who kept moves scheduled to the minute and managed the volunteers.

     The playground had to be moved to the Hyder House and fenced in.  And toddler-sized furniture replaced the adult furniture, which went into storage.  Staff had to share the Teaching building classrooms which were turned into offices.  Everything had to exist out of the Sanctuary building.

     Diamond Contracting said they would be finished past August 2018, which turned out to be authentic.  PGUMC adapted to living as a church in a construction zone.  Worshipping in the Fellowship Hall was cold in wintertime and hot in summer because heat and air conditioning weren't hooked up.  A heavy plastic mantle separated the worship surface area from the construction area.  The almanac youth dinner theater went on as planned but was held at Millbrook United Methodist Church building.

     During a thunderstorm one night, rainwater and mud escaped from the construction area that would go the Welcome Center and ran like a river downwards the Educational activity building hallway and into the offices. Rev. Minnick captured the overflowing on video.  The structure visitor cleaned up the mess with an amends.

     Structure highlights can as well be institute at pgumc.org/the-next-affiliate.

As presently as construction began, the Decorating Committee was considering what the final look would be. Mary Holroyd, Pamela Wimbush-Cady and Nancy Wegner decided on paint colors, countertops, floor coverings, bathroom and low-cal fixtures.  The greatest challenge was staying in budget, Holroyd said.

     Contemporary spiral lite fixtures had been selected for the Sanctuary, but once installed the design felt unfit for the space.  They worked well in the Welcome Center, nonetheless, and the original light fixtures were cleaned, polished and returned to the Sanctuary.

     Designing the new enlarged kitchen was the responsibility of its major users, the United Methodist Men and United Methodist Women, led past Beak Speri and Lucinda Sullivan, respectively.  Thanks to a generous anonymous donor, the new kitchen was equipped with a eating place-quality Champion Undercounter Dishwasher capable of washing dishes in a few minutes.

     An early conclusion for doorless kitchen cabinets for ease of finding items turned out to be a mistake.  Coin from the cookbook sales went to buy doors for the cabinets.  The new stove was purchased specifically to fit some over-sized pans prized by the UMM, but while the new oven was wide enough, it wasn't deep enough.  "I miss those pans still," said Speri.  The end issue was a working kitchen with a logical flow and best use of the space bachelor.

     In Baronial, with structure completed, Bob Starkes led the move back to normalcy.  He estimates 107 volunteers assisted with moving into the new PGUMC.  It was, he said, "every bit if they were on a mission."

     On September 9, 2018, the new and expanded PGUMC held an open up house and service.  The problems with the facilities noted in the 2013 Envisioning procedure had been solved.  The simplicity of the Sanctuary redesign made it brighter.  The openness of the new Welcome Middle offered potential for new forms of fellowship.  The larger Fellowship Hall gave the Grove service room to abound.

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The Next Affiliate                                                                       Subsequently Photo, 2018

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     A former Sunday school classroom that had been reclassified as a conference room on the master plan, turned out to be neither.  With all meeting room needs met at the Hyder Firm and new Welcome Center, PGUMC got a Music room after all.

     For the adjacent six months, the Trustees wrapped upward the final details found in any structure projection.  Led by Jeff Mann and Jennifer Williams, the Trustees tackled projects from adding grab bars in the new restrooms in the Welcome Center, to all-encompassing adjustments of the new HVAC due to faulty installation.  Later on several people walked into the drinking glass walls instead of the glass doors of the Welcome Center, decals were added to the walls to brand them visible.

Church Membership Numbers

     PGUMC continued to grow into the new space.  Equally of December 31, 2019, there were i,012 professing members at Pleasant Grove.  Our ane,000th member was Elsa Kimbell.  Nosotros've come a long manner from 115 members in 1953; 390 members in 1984; 410 members in 1989; and now, 1,012 members in 2019.

MUSIC: MAKING A JOYFUL Dissonance

     Making a blithesome noise on Sunday mornings is what Methodists do.  Charles Wesley, the brother of Methodist founder John Wesley, wrote about 6,500 hymns.  So, when a group of Methodists gathered in a "pleasant grove" near Raleigh for the first fourth dimension in 1846, music probably played a function.

     No records be nigh which hymns were sung or what instruments were played.  We don't know where exactly those first services took place, whether in someone's dwelling house where there may have been a piano or a country store where someone brought a guitar. Just at that place must have been singing.

     The one-room church congenital in 1855 probably had some hymn books.  The church building built in 1903 had a steeple, so it probably had a choir corner.

Instruments

     The first confirmed church musical instrument appears in an invoice from C.H. Stephenson Music Company in 1928 for a piano for the sum of $225.  Mary Lynn was the commencement person to play that piano.

     Organs:  When the present sanctuary opened in 1968, an organ undoubtedly was included in the new building. Only records exist only for the post-obit ii organs:

• According to a plaque attached to the organ, it was defended on Lord's day, June 6, 1993, past Vivian Edwards in retentivity of her parents, Iva King Edwards (1874-1961) and Charles Herndon Edwards (1856-1920). This organ was replaced by…

• A three-transmission Allen G340 Ginisys Organ dedicated in Feb 2022 as a gift from an anonymous donor. Boosted speakers and an actress manual (keyboard) add depth to the audio.

     Carillon:  An electronic carillon was purchased in Feb 1975 from the I.T. Verdin Co. in Cincinnati, Ohio, as a gift from Mattie Bell, according to Bob Starkes. The electronic carillon played hymns on special proprietary cartridge tapes.  Normally twice a twenty-four hours its music was circulate over speakers at the top of a fifty-foot pole behind the Sanctuary edifice. Over time, the system became too difficult to maintain and the church building's new neighbors asked for quiet. The pole and speakers remain, but the carillon is gone.

     Bells:  The 3 octaves of Schulmerich bells were purchased in 1976 from Bethan Neely of Schulmerich Bells in Hatfield, PA.  Church members from that time remember them as a gift from Wilton Kelly, who fabricated many generous donations to the church building.  In the last 25 years, the bell choir has been led by erstwhile Music Manager Virginia O'Brien, followed past Ed Glaesner, and now the Managing director of Worship Arts, Chris Dodson.

     Grand Pianoforte:  The Schimmel grand pianoforte was hiding behind the pulpit one Sunday in Dec 2007 and so that almost in the congregation didn't see it.  Music Director Joe Lupton started playing the upright piano in front, to the side, as the choir entered.  All of a sudden he stopped playing, got upwards and walked backside the pulpit. As he lifted the piano's hat, a gasp could be heard from the congregation.  He started playing, and the PGUMC music program fabricated a grand leap forward.  Lupton went on to tape meaty discs of his playing on this piano.  An bearding donor purchased the piano under Lupton's direction, co-ordinate to Rev. Minnick. Lupton fabricated ii recordings on the piano to raise coin for the music program: "Christmas by Candlelight" and "Centering Time."

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Musicians and Choirs

     The few church building bulletins that survive from the 1950s and 1960s evidence that the organ was played past a rotating team of volunteers, ordinarily identified as 'Mrs. (Hubby'south Name)'.  The organist accompanied the congregation'southward hymn singing and usually led the choir in a weekly practise.

     In recent decades the music leaders have been:​

• Debbie Campbell, Choir Director, 1987 to 1990

• Virginia O'Brien, Music Managing director, 1990 to 1995

• Joe Lupton, Music Managing director, 1996 to 2013

• Chris Dodson, Director of Worship Arts, 2013 to present

• Jill Boliek, accompanist, 2007 to present

• Steven Hall, The Grove Band and Children'southward Choir, 2022 to 2019

     These music leaders and music volunteers provide PGUMC with a variety of musical worship experiences from Christmas cantatas to Christian contemporary.

     The hiring of Chris Dodson in May 2013 marked a change in the PGUMC music direction.  Earlier his inflow, all the church building music directors had other careers that took much of their energy.  Dodson, still, was hired to put the PGUMC music program offset in his professional life.  While he teaches music and performs in concerts, the PGUMC music program is his primary focus.

     Chancel Choir: This adult choir sings at most 11 a.m. services. They usually wear robes and sing a weekly anthem. The choir has always been led by the music director.

Coffee Chorus: The 8:thirty a.m. service started in Apr 2005 without a choir. In Baronial 2013, after being at PGUMC for a few months, Chris Dodson asked for volunteers to commencement a choir for the early service. Almost a dozen people responded. They agreed to do at 7:xxx a.m. on Sundays. They take turns bringing breakfast each week. Since it takes a lot of caffeine to sing that early on, when Elsa Kimbell suggested the group call itself the Coffee Chorus, information technology was unanimously accepted.  They sing at a service at to the lowest degree monthly and flatly refuse to wear robes.

The Grove Band: The Grove contemplative service that debuted September 2011 required a non-traditional musical approach. Those first services relied on videos and recorded music.  Bree Wise and Tim Hazell performed occasionally.  Rev. Minnick chosen a coming together asking for volunteer musicians to play at the Grove.  Wise and Hazel began performing weekly, forth with Scott Hanson, Mike Arata, Amy Surrette, Randy Richardson and Jeff Willey.

     The Grove Ring plays guitars, drums, keyboard, and, of grade, sings.  Words to contemporary Christian songs are shared with the congregation on a screen, not in a hymnbook.  For those commencement years of Grove services the music was driven past the ring itself, Hanson said, considering Music Managing director Joe Lupton had little involvement in contemporary Christian music, so the band grew organically.

     "Being fellow member-driven, the music choices were incomparably secular with sacred overtones," Hanson said.  "Every week, we'd do at least one song that you might hear on the radio, but had a deeper pregnant placed in a church setting, such every bit "Waiting on the World to Modify," "Allow it Be," or "Lean on Me."  Ring members would look up the chords online, figure out a central that worked for the singers, and their music library grew over fourth dimension.

     When Chris Dodson arrived in May 2013, he took over The Grove ring leadership.  Steven Hall arrived and directed the ring from 2022 to 2019.  The Rev. Carol Van Buskirk came on lath in 2022 and took over when Steven left for California.

Children's choirs: PGUMC has 2 choirs for children. The largest group, known simply equally the children's choir, consists of simple-age children who perform for the major holidays and at to the lowest degree quarterly.  Allana Minnick directed the children's choir from 1995 to 2016.  Mary Beth Young directed from 2022 to 2017.  Steven Hall directed from 2022 to 2019, and the Rev. Carol Van Buskirk took over in 2019.

The preschoolers in the Cherub Choir take been directed past parent volunteers: Ginger Cannon, followed by Mary Beth Young, Jeannette Day, and currently Lindsay Osterhoudt.

     In the pandemic that hit the world in 2020, the PGUMC music program switched to online performances.  Whether in person or on YouTube, Methodists have to make a joyful dissonance.

MISSIONS AND OUTREACH

     Service to others has e'er been office of the mission of PGUMC.  Church members take worked with established programs to feed the hungry or serve other needs; created programs to bring Christmas cheer to children in an impoverished county or bring attention and back up to children in nearby subsidized housing; and many times spent a week abroad from home on mission trips to rebuild homes damaged by hurricanes.

     Established organizations that PGUMC members regularly support include:

• Gleaning with the Club of St. Andrew

• Home edifice with Habitat for Humanity

• Blood drives with the Blood Connection

• Providing snacks each calendar week for schoolhouse children with Backpack Buddies

• Partnering with Millbrook UMC to back up families experiencing temporary homelessness in the Family Hope program

• Walking with the annual Relay for Life with the American Cancer Society

     Two mission programs created by PGUMC members with strong congregational support are GreatMinds and the Young Disciples' Christmas for Robeson County.

GreatMinds

     In 1999, the GreatMinds programme emerged at PGUMC equally an effort to connect with the neighboring community of Stonecrest, a subdivision of subsidized housing, by providing opportunities for growth and fellowship with the children living in that location.  Donna Hill led the offset 3 years of the program; Kim Arwood led the program for 9 years; and so Donna returned to lead for another 8 years.  The program has evolved several times over the years to include tutoring, playtime and refreshments, arts and crafts, weekly dinners, and field trips.  Dozens of PGUMC members volunteered over the years with GreatMinds.  Britt and Leah Milner began leading the GreatMinds program starting in the fall of 2019.

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Christmas in Robeson County

     The Young Disciples Dominicus school class has brightened Christmas for impoverished children since 2005. These fourth and fifth graders, led by teacher Cindy Hardy, start in November to raise funds to help the poorest children in Robeson County, which has among the highest poverty rates in Northward Carolina.  The Young Disciples practise actress work and ask church members to back up them.  Over the years they've raised more than $30,000, which they apply to purchase toys and other gifts. A highlight is the shopping afternoon when the entire class goes together to purchase presents for other children. A record was set up in Christmas 2019: the combined full given to the project by the Immature Disciples course and the PGUMC congregation was $4,668.

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Mission Trips

     When Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf states, when more contempo hurricanes wrecked much of eastern North Carolina, when pockets of poverty persist in Appalachia, PGUMC members have gone on mission trips to serve.  They took vacation fourth dimension and paid their own way to spend several nights abroad from abode, often in rustic places, to go with their PGUMC family to provide help.  Some trips were open to any PGUMC member who wanted to go.  Other trips were made past the Youth groups and their adult leaders.

PGUMC Major Mission Projects

     This listing was compiled with information from Noel and Kevin Currin, who led many of the youth mission trips; Lucinda Sullivan; Chelsea Brown; Elsa Kimbell; Eileen Anderson and Ashley Yohman.

2005 – United Methodist Relief Eye/2d Spring, D'Iberville, MS – Hurricane Katrina Relief.  PGUMC general trip.

2006 – United Methodist Relief Center/2nd Spring, Biloxi, MS – Hurricane Katrina Relief –PGUMC general trip.

2006 – United Methodist Relief Center/Second Spring, D'Iberville, MS – Hurricane Katrina Relief – PGUMC full general trip.

2007 – United Methodist Relief Center/Second Jump, D'Iberville, MS – Hurricane Katrina Relief – PGUMC general trip.

2007 – Appalachian Service Projection in Butler and Sevierville, TN  –  home repair and roof Replacement.

2008 – United Methodists Volunteers in Mission project in Guatemala.  PGUMC team served in a medical clinic and helped with building homes and classrooms.

2010 – United Methodist Relief Center, Charleston and Georgetown, SC – PGUMC Senior High Youth trip.

2012 – Black Mountain Domicile for Children, Blackness Mountain, NC – PGUMC Senior High Youth trip.

2013 – Shiloh United Methodist Church, Stumpy Point, NC - weekend trip working on a church later hurricane damage and replacing sheetrock, home repair rebuilding a porch.

2014 – REACH, Roanoke, VA – PGUMC Senior Loftier Youth trip. Reach is a service arrangement based in Roanoke that stands for Real Experiences Affecting Change.

2015 – Hinton Life Eye – Hayesville, NC – home repair

2016 – City of Brunswick Housing Dominance, Brunswick and St. Simon's Island, GA– PGUMC Senior High Youth Trip.

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2017 – Hinton Life Center – Hayesville, NC – home repair

2018 – Gild of St. Andrew Cease Hunger, Lynchburg, VA – PGUMC Senior High Youth Trip.

2019 – PGUMC Churchwide mission trip to Tarboro, NC.  Insulation, canvass rocking, home repair and painting in Princeville for Hurricane Florence relief.

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EPILOGUE: Information technology'S Non THE Terminate

The COVID-19 Pandemic

     The lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our church volition be written past future historians.  We've included this brief overview to provide a starting place for them.

March 13, 2020

     The following email was sent to members from Pastor Jay Minnick:

     Last evening, your Authoritative Council met and decided, after weighing all the information at its disposal, to discontinue worship and other gatherings for the side by side 2 weeks offset on Sunday, March 15.  Bishop Ward noted that public wellness leaders are very concerned that we are on "the cusp of a meaning increase in the contagious virus" and "social distancing is the nigh effective means of slowing the spread of the disease."

     In lieu of church attendance, I would encourage each of you to spend some fourth dimension on Sun, listening for a word of peace being spoken into your life during the chaotic times.  Sit on the porch with a loving cup of java as yous listen to the birds singing songs of life.  Rest on the burrow as y'all detect condolement in the sacred cadency of the rain against the window.  Observe something to read that volition deliver you from the grip of feet.  Maybe, just click on the church website (pgumc.org) to see what's going on there.  No matter what, try to agree on to these words of Jesus:

     Practice not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid (John 14:27).

     Bishop Hope Morgan Ward closed all Methodist church buildings in the NC Conference, including ours, on March 15, 2020, to be in compliance with orders from Governor Roy Cooper that all nonessential places be closed in an endeavour to stop the spread of COVID-nineteen.  Pastor Jay began to record video church services for us to watch from dwelling house.  Jay also conducted many Bible studies and discussions via Zoom, and most committees and Sunday school classes accept continued using Zoom as well. The plan staff contributed to online content to help people stay connected from home. A job force was established past the Administrative Council to programme the eventual reopening of the church building.

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Source: https://www.pgumc.org/church-history

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