Biography

First United Methodist Church was located at 2037 Obrie Street, Zwolle, Louisiana.

Though Methodism had been at nearby Bayou Scie for decades, the church at Zwolle didn't begin until 1897. Rev. Sam Holladay, who was serving the Bayou Scie church, organized some of the Protestant English-speaking settlers who had recently moved to Zwolle into a church. The First Methodist Episcopal Church, South of Zwolle was the largest church on the circuit by the following year. Other churches that have shared a circuit with Zwolle include Converse, Many, Mitchell, Hornbeck, Neame, Noble, Pickering, and Bayou Scie.

Some of the early members of the church were Senator R. L. Gay, Mrs. R. E. Pearson, Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Pearson, Mrs. J. S. Gray, Mrs. E. C. Leone Sr., and Mr. and Mrs. S. H. Porter. Church records do not record the date of the first sanctuary. One story is that Dr. R. E. Parrott stated that he would be the first person to join the new sanctuary. He presented himself at the altar after the singing of the first hymn, was baptized, and received the membership vows. The recorded date of those vows is May 8, 1912. The pastor then was either Rev. J. C. Rouseau or T. D. Lipscomb.

As the church grew, larger accommodations became necessary. In the early 1940s, a new sanctuary was constructed on Port Arthur Street. It was completed in January 1942 under the leadership of Rev. A.M. Brown. The current church building was completed in 1964 under the leadership of Rev. Vernon Fairley.

To date, the First United Methodist Church of Zwolle has been served by 50 pastors. When Toledo Bend Lake was created in the 1970s, it began an influx of people who moved to the area or began vacationing there. About half of the active membership today consists of persons who retired in the area or come to spend their weekends in the vicinity.

First 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 SH-89.

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