Biography

College Avenue United Methodist Church was located at 1110 College Avenue, Natchitoches, Louisiana.

Mrs. Marzette Foster helped to get the church started by visiting people in the area. The first services were held in private homes.

Faith Methodist Church held its first service on June 15, 1952. District Superintendent Jolly B. Harper led the service. Of the 60 people in attendance, 35 were received into membership that day by Rev. John F. Kellogg. The families in this first congregation were: Bowell, Boyt, Coleman, Corley, Foster, Fuller, Grappe, Groves, Holt, Ingram, Kellogg, Spann, Westbrook, Wheat, and Whitford. The next month, they held their first Vacation Bible School.

An education building, with classrooms and a kitchen, was built in 1954. A brick sanctuary was soon constructed and the first service in the new church was held on November 13, 1955.

Mr. and Mrs. H.E. Corley donated land to the church and a parsonage was built. The first occupant of the new parsonage was Rev. Durand and his family.

In late 1960, the name of the church changed from Faith to College Avenue. Although the church was on a circuit for most of its history, in 1992 they were placed on a charge of their own.

In 2008, the Louisiana Conference of the United Methodist Church formally declared College Avenue UMC discontinued and abandoned.

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 AL-14.

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