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Fairview United Methodist Church (Lake Charles, La.) records

 Collection
Identifier: LACUMC-2019-040

Scope and Contents

This collection documents the activities of Fairview United Methodist Church (Lake Charles, La.). The collection includes membership records, charge conference records, administrative records, financial records, property records, photographs, committee records, and subject files.

Dates

  • 1954 - 2017

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Physical rights are retained by the Centenary College of Louisiana Archives and Special Collections. Copyright is retained in accordance with U.S. copyright laws.

Biographical / Historical

Fairview United Methodist Church was located at 2587 Red Davis McCollister Road, Lake Charles, Louisiana.

In the mid-1950s, retired Methodist minister Martin Hebert was holding interdenominational services in the Lake Charles area. They decided to become a denominational church on March 20, 1955 so that the children and young people would have membership in an organized church.

The Fairview Demonstration Club building was rented and the first service held on April 3, 1955. There were thirty-one people at that service. The District Superintendent, Karl Tooke, led the group in organizing the Fairview Methodist Church on June 23, 1955 with twenty-seven members. Rev. Hebert was its first pastor.

Mr. and Mrs. Ray B. Hebert donated land on which to build a church. Construction on the church began on July 19, 1955. Work was led by Thomas Hebert, with the labor being donated or volunteered. Though still unfinished, the first service in the new church was held on September 18, 1955.

Rev. Hebert was getting along in years and stepped down from the pulpit in 1957. His successors. Rev. Garland Dean and then Rev. W. F. Howell, led the congregation in building an addition to the church facilities.

Fairview United Methodist Church closed in 2019.

Source: Timothy Hebert, “The Historical Register of the Louisiana Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church,” (Louisiana: Louisiana Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, 2004), page LC-12.

Extent

3.25 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Arrangement

Arranged by subject, then chronologically.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Collection consists of multiple accessions transferred by Ellen DeWitt (former Louisiana Conference UMC Commission on Archives and History member). Received in 2019 (accession number 2019-040) and 2023 (accession number 2023-024).

Title
Finding Aid to Fairview United Methodist Church (Lake Charles, La.) records
Author
Riane Faas, Beth Vogler, and Chris Brown
Date
2024
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Centenary College of Louisiana Archives and Special Collections Repository

Contact:
2911 Centenary Blvd.
Shreveport LA 71104 US
(318) 869-5462