Back in time: Church celebrates 100 years as if it were yesterday

By Susan Pugh

Published: March 14, 2008

By Susan Pugh

(434) 385-5523

During a service last Sunday celebrating Fort Hill United Methodist Church’s 100th anniversary, someone in the congregation called out, “What time does the saloon open up?”

The Rev. David A. Rash, pastor, and some church members in period dress were in the midst of re-enacting the church’s founding, which was tied to a saloon.

The church traces its roots to a group of Methodists who organized a Sunday school in 1899 and met in a former saloon. The saloon, owned by Columbus “Lum” Pleasants, stood on what is now Old Forest Road near Blackwater Creek.

“Back in those days, Sunday schools were the big draw,” he said. That might explain why the Sunday school came before the church itself.

The Sunday school grew from 15 or 20 members to some 115 by March 1908, when it held its first quarterly conference and organized as a bona fide church, the pastor said. It took the name at that time of West End Methodist Episcopal Church South.

Rash conducted Sunday’s service in the character of the first pastor, the Rev. Lewis P. Bransford.

“Lynchburg is bursting at the seams,” its population about to hit 4,000, he told the congregation.

“These are rough days,” he said. He noted the rising price of a stamp to 3 cents and that the country had been embroiled not long before in the Spanish-American War under Theodore Roosevelt, who had become president.

Rash also spoke of Methodism’s anti-slavery stance and what the church’s first 100 years might bring, including women’s rights.

The Rev. John A. Siegle reported to the congregation the cost of church missions, such as $46 for foreign missions and $35 for domestic ones. The former Fort Hill UMC pastor was portraying the first presiding elder, the Rev. Joseph Shackford.

The original church officers were elected, with current church members taking their parts.

Then came testimony from “Doug Crystal,” a character made up and portrayed by church member Aaron Lee of Lynchburg. (Lee is managing editor of the New Era-Progress and the Nelson County Times, sister papers of The News & Advance.)

“‘Lum’ Pleasants was a good friend of mine,” he said. “Rum was a good friend, too.”

One morning after a big night, Crystal awoke in the saloon to see people sitting reverentially, singing hymns.

A Sunday school member urged him to stay.

“‘There’s somewhere I have to be,’ he replied.

“She didn’t know I had to be home, sleeping it off.”

But Crystal saw the woman several times during the following week and went back to Sunday school.

“It sort of became a habit,” the way Lum’s had been, he said.

After the service, the Ruhland sisters of Lynchburg, Emily, 14, and Elizabeth, 10, said they liked the 100-year celebration. “They did skits,” said Elizabeth.

Sallie Johnson of Lynchburg, an adult member, said, “It’s a very creative congregation.”

Even organist/piano player, Nancy Vanzant of Lynchburg, came in costume that included a long black dress, a black velvet shawl and a lace parasol.

The church’s membership now numbers nearly 600. Just as the church’s size and name have changed, so have its quarters.

The saloon was likely uncomfortable. The current church on Oakridge Boulevard, built roughly 50 years ago, has creature comforts such as cushioned pews, and heating and air conditioning — not to mention the beauty of dental work moldings, columns and stained glass windows.

Mary Ann Carter of Lynchburg, a member for decades, said, “I just enjoy the church and the fellowship. I just love my church.”

Carolyn Maness of Lynchburg, who organized the re-enactment, told the congregation, “Remember that we wouldn’t be here … if it had not been for that courageous group of Methodist adventurers 100 years ago.”