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Tag: Cedar Creek Methodist Church

  • Cedar Creek residents to preserve church

    BLYTHEWOOD – After 274 years, it was announced in June, 2017, that the doors of the historic Cedar Creek Methodist Church would close. A final service was held on May 6, 2018, under a canopy outside the building.

    Blythewood artist Harold Branham captured the historic Cedar Creek church on canvas.

    The closure was the will of the S. C. United Methodist Conference, which owns the church and the property it sits on. The service was billed as a celebration, but for the descendants of the families who had attended the little church all their lives, and who wanted to keep it open for the community, it was a sad occasion.

    They wanted to know what would happen to the building. Would the Conference sell the property? Could the Cedar Creek families continue to use the church for weddings and other special occasions? Who would pay for the upkeep?

    While a resolution affirmed by the Conference included a clause recommending the property be preserved because of its historical significance, there were no guarantees.

    “While I really can’t comment on things I don’t have power over, I can make recommendations,” Rev. Cathy Jamison, a former pastor at Trinity United Methodist Church in Blythewood and the current Columbia District Superintendent and Secretary to the Cabinet of the S.C. United Methodist Conference said. “Unfortunately there’s not a stockpile of money for the preservation of the building so that would have to be a community fundraising effort. The plan for the future of the property is evolving,” Jamison said.

    But the Cedar Creek community was not without resolve and resources to save their beloved church.

    “When we learned that the historical landmark was about to be decommissioned,” said Bill DuBard, a descendant of one of Cedar Creek’s early families whose history intertwined with the church, “we acted quickly to set in motion a process whereby we could preserve the church for the community, perhaps as a wedding venue or for other community events.”

    Margaret DuBard, Bill DuBard’s wife, said the boards of the Blythewood and Upper Fairfield County Historical Societies were supportive of preserving the church as well as the cemetery.

    “We incorporated the Cedar Creek Historical Association and began seeking a charter as a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization to achieve the mission of the Association,” DuBard said.

    A board was formed and Bill DuBard was named president. Other members include Raymond Hendrix, Sandra jones and John Fogle.

    For the past six months the board has worked to establish the legal status necessary to protect the ownership of the church as well as preserve buildings, documents and sites of historical interest to the community.

    Now they are seeking members who will share and support their vision with both financial and time donations.

    The following schedule offers basic donation levels:

    Founding lifetime members – a one-time gift of $1,000

    Legacy members – $250 annually

    Stewardship members $150 annually

    Family membership – $100 annually

    Individual members – $50 annually

    DuBard said, however, that there are many other ways to help as well, including volunteer work and donation of preservation materials.

    For more information about the Association or to join, email: cedarcreekhistorical@yahoo.com.

    Blythewood artist Harold Branham created a 16 x 20 print of the church on canvas that is available for sale and can be seen in the lobby of the Community Bank at the corner of Blythewood Road and Main Street. For more information, conatact Branham at 348-7773.

  • Cedar Creek bids farewell to church

    Margaret Gardner, center the church’s longest regular member, sits between Lynn Oswald, left, and her daughter Sara Oswald who attended the church in the 1990’s. | Photos/Barbara Ball

    CEDAR CREEK – It was the last Sunday service of the Cedar Creek Methodist Church.

    Margaret Gardner, 98, the last remaining active member of the church on Cedar Creek Road, grew up worshiping with her family in the tiny white one-room building that looks very nearly the same, inside and out, on Sunday as it did when she was a child.

    Those who know Gardner, know that the Cedar Creek Methodist Church was her heart.

    Lifelong Cedar Creek community residents Kelley Lannigan, Jim Chappell and Sandra Jones search through the church memorabilia.

    But on May 6, the church was closed with a final service, a ceremony held outside, next to the building, under a canopy. And Gardner was there to bravely bid farewell.

    The building, itself, is a treasure, simply furnished as if it was 100 years ago, except with lights.  However, there is no electricity today. There was never any indoor plumbing, and the air conditioning unit was vandalized for its copper piping years ago.

    Before the ceremony began, Gardner asked to see inside the church one last time. As a friend pushed her wheelchair up the ramp and into the side door, Gardner took in the room. Touching her hand to her face, she gazed at the pews, the ceiling, the pulpit and the piano. Her mother had played the piano in that room every Sunday morning and had taught her to play.

    Finally, Gardner wiped her eye with a crumpled tissue and lowered her head, then looked toward the door. Her friend turned her wheelchair around and wheeled her slowly down the ramp, around the front of the church to a seat next to her sister, Julianna Hendrix, under the canopy, and the service began. It was the last service Gardner would attend on these grounds where generations of Cedar Creek families, her family, had worshiped and were laid to rest in the picturesque rock walled cemetery behind the church.

    It had been a vibrant church when Gardner was growing up, but by 2011, the membership had dwindled to a handful as most of the church’s members had died or moved away.

    “It was about then that we became aware that our church and the property it sat on was not ours, but belonged to the S.C. United Methodist Conference,” lifelong Cedar Creek resident Sandra Jones said. Still, the few remaining members, including Gardner, fought to keep the doors open, paying the apportionments and maintaining the building and cemetery as best they could.

    In June of 2017, the Conference voted to close the church for good. Rev. Kathy Jamieson, a former pastor at Trinity United Methodist Church in Blythewood and the current Columbia District Superintendent and Secretary to the Cabinet of the S.C. United Methodist Conference, opened the ceremony on May 6, calling it a celebration of the Ministry of Fairfield’s Cedar Creek Methodist Church.

    Historian and former church member, Ben Hornsby, Jr. led those assembled in singing “The Church’s One Foundation” and “O God, Our Help in Ages Past” before sharing the colorful history of both the church and its member families.  He recited tales of the family who lie in the cemetery as well as families who still live in Cedar Creek today.

    Former pastors shared past remembrances of their days at the church, as did the current Fairfield Circuit Pastor Rev. Alice Deal.

    Lifetime Cedar Creek resident and state champion fiddle player, Jim Graddick, let his fiddle fly with “Glory in the Meeting House.”

    After the ceremony, there were cookies and lemonade. Jamieson answered The Voice’s questions about who owns Methodist Church properties.  She said all Methodist churches are owned by the Annual Conference.

    “Whether or not they have a trust clause in their deed, every Methodist church holds their property in trust for the Methodist Church,” Jamieson said. There are other relationships that cause the church property to belong to the Conference – paying their apportionment, accepting the preacher that the Bishop sends them. I can’t give you the exact date when that went in to effect, but every Methodist Church property is held in trust for the Annual Conference. It’s part of our polity and our legal system,” Jamieson said. “Legal cases have gone to court when a church tries to break away and even if they don’t have the trust clause, the judge has ruled in favor of the Conference because the church has other ways than the trust clause is connective, such as paying apportionment,” Jamieson explained.

    While Gardner and others in the community are not comfortable with the closing, they accept it.

    Looking to the future and the preservation of the property, longtime Cedar Creek residents, Bill and Margaret DuBard, are spearheading an effort to repurpose the church.

    “We are hopeful,” explained Margaret DuBard, “to make it available for perhaps weddings and musical events or a meeting place for civic organizations.”

    Jamieson said the United Methodist Church Conference would also like to see the church and grounds be maintained perhaps as a Cemetery or Historical Association.

    But Jamieson insists she doesn’t have power over the property.

    “The plan for the future of the property is evolving,” Jamieson said. “Preservation of the building will have to be a community effort.”

    Those interested in the preservation of the church property can call Bill DuBard at 750-0710.

    Barbara Ball contributed to this article.

  • Historic Cedar Creek church to close May 6

     

    Cedar Creek Methodist Church to be closed after May 6 service. | Darlene Embleton

    FAIRFIELD COUNTY – After 274 years, the doors of the historic Cedar Creek Methodist Church on Cedar Creek Road will close on Sunday during a special ceremony. In attendance will be the few remaining and some former members including Margaret Gardner, her sister Julianne Hendricks and Sandra Jones. The three women who grew up attending the church together with their families – the Eargles, the DuBards and the Howells as well as many friends of the church.

    Gardner, 96, who attended the church until a few years ago, said her mother played the piano there every Sunday.

    “That’s where she taught me to play,” Gardner said, recalling the joys and telling the stories of growing up with family and friends in the tight knit church.

    Located in the Cedar Creek community in the edge of Fairfield County, the church is on the historic registry and is rich with various versions of its founding. One version is that it was originally founded on the banks of the Saluda River and later moved to the Cedar Creek area where, in 1762, land for a second building was purchased from two Indians. There, under the pastorate of Rev. John Nicholas Martin, a long building was erected about 16 by 30 feet, with a dirt floor.

    Another version is that it was moved to the current location on land granted by the King of England to Pastor William Dubbart. It was said at one time to have Presbyterian leanings. But Ben Hornsby, a historian and pianist for the church’s sister church, Bethel Methodist Church in Fairfield County, says he finds no documentation of a Presbyterian affiliation in the church’s DNA.

    For years, life for the Eargles, Dubards, Fridys, Levers, Howells and other Cedar Creek families centered around the charming, white country church. But by the mid-1900s, many families with children were moving their memberships from quaint one-room country churches, to more modern United Methodist Church facilities featuring worship bands, organized youth events and social centers with basketball courts.  By 2011, the church’s membership had dwindled to a handful as most of the members had died or moved away.

    “It was about then that we became aware that our church and the property it sat on was not ours, but belonged to the S. C. United Methodist Conference,” Jones said. Still, the few remaining members, including Margaret Gardner, then in her 90s, fought to keep the doors open, paying the apportionments and maintaining the building and cemetery as best they could.

    “My father, Joseph DuBard, always looked after the church and even left a sum of money in his will for the church’s upkeep after he was gone,” Jones said. “While that money was part of close to $100,000 the church eventually turned over to the Conference, the effort to maintain the church was carried on by those who didn’t want it declared closed.”

    On June 12, 2015, Jones wrote to The Voice, asking for help in fighting for the preservation of the historic church.

    “Time is of the essence,” she wrote, “as members with ties to the church are dying out.”

    While Bill DuBard and his wife Margaret moved their membership years ago, they still live in Cedar Creek and support the maintenance of the Cedar Creek church.

    “It’s a shame,” Bill DuBard said, “that the church has just dried up. There isn’t any indoor plumbing and the air conditioning unit was vandalized for its copper piping years ago.”

    In June of 2017, the Conference dealt the final blow, voting to close the church for good. While the last members, as well as their descendants, are not comfortable with the closing, they accept it. Their worry now is what will become of it? Who will pay for the upkeep? Will the Conference sell the property? The questions are many, Jones said.

    Both DuBards hope it can be maintained as a benefit to the community. Margaret DuBard said the boards of the Blythewood and Upper Fairfield County Historical Societies are supportive of preserving the church as well as the cemetery.

    “I would love to see it used as a wedding venue or for gospel music events,” Margaret DuBard said.

    Rev. Cathy Jamison, a former pastor at Trinity United Methodist Church in Blythewood and the current Columbia District Superintendent and Secretary to the Cabinet of the S.C. United Methodist Conference, confirmed that the fate of the church and property are not known at this time. But she said the funds handed over to the Conference are earmarked for the upkeep of the cemetery and cannot be used for anything else.

    She also said the resolution affirmed by the Annual Conference in June 2017 includes a clause recommending the property be preserved because of its historical significance.

    “So it’s up to the Conference trustees, who have the responsibility for all Conference properties in South Carolina, to decide the fate of the property,” Jamison said. “While I really can’t comment on things I don’t have power over, I can make recommendations. Unfortunately there’s not a stockpile of money for the preservation of the building so that would have to be a community fundraising effort. The plan for the future of the property is evolving,” Jamison said.

    The ceremony for the closing of the church will be held at the church at 1209 Cedar Creek Road on Sunday, May 6, at 4 p.m. Leading the service in the community landmark will be the current pastor of the Fairfield Circuit, Rev. Alice Deal.

    Those interested in the preservation of the church property can call Bill DuBard at 754-0710.

    Barbara Ball contributed to this story.