Biography

Newellton Union United Methodist Church (Newellton, La.) is located at 1916 Louisiana Highway 605, Newellton, Louisiana.

In 1890, the Newellton Union Church was formed to “mold the lives of the people of Newellton into Christian Character.” When Presbyterian ministers J.S. Hillhouse and F.L. MeCue visited the town in 1889, they held services in private homes and urged the citizens to form a church. On June 10, 1890, the Tensas First Presbyterian Church was organized.

The first church was built upon land donated by Mr. Isadore Newman of New Orleans. Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish congregations used the facility. Each had a box of its denominations' religious symbols that would be taken out and used for their respective services.

Sometime between 1913 and 1920, the church was disposed of. It is now located on Hwy. 608 northeast of Newellton where the road turns east along the levee. By 1920, they were using the current church building. By that time, it seems that Methodists were also using the church for services. But over the years, the separate congregations remained small and regular preachers weren’t assigned to Newellton.

On November 11, 1928, they met together to organize the denominations (Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Christian Church) into a single Union church and hire a full-time pastor. In March 1929, Rev. L.L. Lemon from the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) started his service. He was followed by a Methodist pastor. Rev. Otis Spinks, in 1930. The Baptists left the Union church to form their own church in 1935.

The church continued to grow and needed larger facilities by the mid 1930s. The current sanctuary was built in 1937. Additional property was purchased in 1950, bringing the church' s total to 2.3 acres of land. After adding a new steeple in 1966, an education building was constructed and dedicated in 1967. Bishop Aubrey Walton led the service. A parsonage was acquired in 1974.

As it looked for a new pastor in 1989, the church found out that they had never officially aligned themselves with either the United Methodist or Presbyterian Church. An agreement was made and signed by Bishop Oden and the church. The members do not belong specifically to the United Methodist or Presbyterian Churches, but are members of the Newellton Union Church. The total membership number is divided in two and half are counted as United Methodist and half as Presbyterians (for statistical purposes). United Methodist and Presbyterian ministers alternate approximately every eight years. The first minister under this agreement was United Methodist pastor Kenneth Graham in 1989.

Newellton Union 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-64.

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