St. Paul United Methodist Church
Earlier Church on Corner of Main and South Page Streets.
Church Street Entrance
Education Building
United Methodist Parsonage at 609 West Main Street
Copied: St. Paul United Methodist Church History
There was no Methodist church in the village of Chesterfield until 1830. Up until that time, residents worshiped at the rural churches, which had been organized earlier. Two of these congregations were Gainey’s Meeting House, organized before 1808, and later Friendship Church. In 1830, a Methodist church was organized in Chesterfield. For eight years worship services were held in the old school building which stood where Jim Harper’s house now stands at 601 West Main Street. In 1838, the first Methodist church was constructed on the west corner of Page and Main streets. There were no resident ministers for about twenty-five years. The first ministers served churches as far away as Jefferson and Society Hill. In 1856, the congregation bought the house next to the church on the corner of Main and Page streets for a parsonage. This was the pastor’s home for about sixty years. The house was dismantled when the new Western Auto store was erected in the early 70's. In 1951, the present parsonage on West Main Street was constructed on a lot donated to St. Paul by the Stratton family of Charlotte, North Carolina, in memory of their grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. W. P. Swinnie. In about 1876, the Methodists sold their church building to the Baptists and constructed another frame building where our present church now stands on land donated by Miss Margaret E. Craig. In early reports from ministers and presiding elders, the Chesterfield church is referred to as “Court House.” We do not know exactly when the name St. Paul was adopted. In 1905, our beautiful present-day St. Paul was built. It is impossible to estimate the cost of this building because its construction was truly a work of love. Most of the families were people with little income and only small monetary gifts, but labor and materials were donated freely. The minister, the Reverend J. J. Stephenson, was a man of vision and practical skills. He served as architect, supervisor, and sometimes laborer. It is recalled that he and Mrs. Stephenson made a trip to Atlanta to have the lovely window behind our pulpit copied from a picture in Mrs. Stephenson’s Bible. In 1984, a group of young mothers discussed the need for child care in our community and decided to do something about it. They met to gather information and brought this to the attention of the local churches. As a result of this, St. Paul decided to open a day care facility. It was felt that this was an outreach mission that would help our community. A committee was appointed to set this endeavor into motion. After working with the Department of Social Services on the requirements to be met, St. Paul opened the day care in August, 1984. At first the day care took only pre-school children; but as these children entered school, it became necessary to expand and take more children. St. Paul Day Care has an enrollment of 55 students with seven teachers, a director, and a custodian (2007). The purpose of the program is to provide a daytime home for children whose parents work outside the home or who are away from home for other reasons. Its goals are to assure each child that he/she is wanted and loved outside the family circle and to instill the love of the church in the heart of each child.