Memorial United Methodist Church (Simsboro, La.)
Biography
Memorial United Methodist Church (Simsboro, La.) is located at 9325 United States Highway 80, Simsboro, Louisiana.
The Simsboro Methodist Episcopal Church, South began in 1889 by sharing a building with the Baptists. Then they used the school for services. At the dawn of the 20th century, Mrs. Betty Sims donated property on the southwest corner of the school property. The church was built in 1904.
After a couple of decades, the church began to put a new roof on the church. But when the Bank of Simsboro failed in the early 1930s, the money was lost. By the time more money had been raised for the roof, the interior was badly in need of repairs as well. So the church was torn down in 1937 and relocated to the southeast corner of the same block. Construction began on the new church in 1938. The church was dedicated on April 2, 1940.
Since then, many improvements have been made to the structure. These include enlarging the entrance, bricking the exterior, adding a fellowship hall (with a kitchen), carpeting, new sanctuary furnishings, new flooring and paneling in the classrooms, a PA system, and carillons.
In 1970, two acres of land were donated by Mr. and Mrs. Charles Cook. Another acre next to those two was donated in 1987 by Mr. and Mrs. Ragan Maden. When the school board bought the church lot in December 1991, plans were made to move the church to the three acres acquired in 1970 and 1987.
The new location was on the south side of Highway 80, just to the east of the former property.
As they began at the new location, the church was renamed Memorial in 1992. The church was moved to the new location on April 27, 1992. The congregation decided to remodel it as an education building, so from March 22, 1992 to October 11, 1993 they worshiped at the Simsboro school. With the help of the Downsville church, they worked on the facilities every Saturday. The first service in the remodeled fellowship hall was on October 17, 1993. Work began on a new sanctuary on July 26, 1995. Once the narthex was completed, services moved there on Easter Sunday, April 7, 1996. Services moved into the sanctuary once it had been completed.
Memorial United Methodist Church disaffiliated from the United Methodist Church in 2023.
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 MO-56.