Biography

Pine Ridge United Methodist Church was located at 3893 Louisiana Highway 440, 7.5 miles west of Tangipahoa, Louisiana.

A Sunday school was held as early as 1880 in the Taylor schoolhouse. The school was made of wood and on land donated by Grant Taylor in 1878. The group raised funds to order New Life songbooks (with shaped notes) for $3.60 per dozen and Bibles. Since the school was surrounded by many large pine trees, the area was called Pine Ridge. The Pine Ridge Sunday school was organized by H. B. Lambert (a member of New Zion Baptist Church) in 1887, though it was discontinued a few years later.

In 1893, Rev. Nathan Roberts offered to preach to the community and Mrs. Ann Phillips Young volunteered to help recruit others. In August 1895, a week-long meeting was held under the shade trees. The Pine Ridge Methodist Episcopal Church was organized at this time.

Grant Taylor donated a piece of land (next to the schoolhouse) on August 13, 1895. The church was built the following year and was dedicated in August 1896. When the first church burned down in May 1913, a new church was built and dedicated by October 1922. These first 2 churches were both built by William "Doc" Blades. In 1958, the present brick church, which contains the sanctuary, educational rooms, and kitchen, was constructed. Since then, the sanctuary windows have been replaced with stained glass windows. The fellowship hall was enlarged in 1994.

Pine Ridge United Methodist Church disaffiliated from the United Methodist Church in May 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 BR-58.

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