Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By Betty Etchison West

Cana/Pino Correspondent

Breakfast will be served Saturday, June 17 from 6:30 10 a.m. in the fellowship hall of Wesley Chapel United Methodist Church. We invite you to come and enjoy a good country breakfast. The menu will include  country ham, sausage, scrambled eggs, grits, red-eye gravy, sawmill gravy, baked apples, homemade biscuits, jelly and coffee and juice. Wesley Chapel is three miles west of Farmington just off of NC 801 North on Pino Road. We look forward to seeing you.

Homecoming was held at Wesley Chapel on Sunday, June 3. A large crowd of members, former members, and friends were present for the worship service. The man, who has served at pastor of Wesley Chapel for the last eight years, Arnold Gosnell, delivered the sermon – the last he will deliver at Wesley Chapel.  The members of Wesley Chapel have appreciated all that Pastor Gosnell has done for them, and, even though they are sad to see him leave as their pastor, they wish him well in his new assignment.

After worship, there was a covered dish meal in the fellowship hall, which gave church members and visitors time to visit while they enjoyed the bountiful lunch.

The following history of Wesley Chapel was in the church bulletin on Homecoming Sunday.

“Wesley Chapel Church was established because a group of devout Christian people sought a place to worship God.

“In 1852, Harmon Hampton McMahan built a small log church building on his plantation.  The site of this original building is about three miles west of the present church and the land now belongs to the J. D. Shelton heirs.  This crude log building with seats made of split logs was used until 1880.

“The church, a Methodist Episcopal South, was placed on the Farmington Circuit in 1876 and was served by Pastor W.C. Wilson.

“In June 1886, Mrs. Jane Brock McMahan deeded two and a half acres of land for a church and a cemetery on which the present church stand.  The church building was constructed during the late 1880s and was not very sturdy.  At one point, it had to be torn down and rebuilt on the same foundation.  This building was used until 1949 when the congregation decided they would have to build a new church or disband.

“Members of the church went to work cutting logs, taking them to a sawmill and helping with the carpentry work on the new church.  The building was dedicated July 29, 1951 with Reverend John Oakley as pastor.

For many years the Fellowship Hall was in the basement of the church.  It became too small and not easily accessible for our seniors so the UMW went to work selling chicken pies and fruit pies and having monthly breakfasts to pay for a new Fellowship Hall.  Through the hard work of the UMW, a gift from Duke Endowment, and many generous contributions, the building became a reality.  The formal dedication of the new building was held on June I, 2003 with the note of indebtedness being burned on the day.”

Members had two evening meals recently.  The first was May 17  to welcome the new pastor, James Randolph (Randy) Purdue, who is coming from Lewisville.  Union United Methodist near Lewisville will be on the charge with Wesley Chapel. Rev. Purdue will also have some involvement with “The Bridge.”

The second dinner at was on May 31 to honor Pastor Arnold and his wife, Sandy, and to thank them.  The Gosnell family will be moving to East Bend, where Rev. Gosnell will pastor two churches.

Kathy and Bob Ellis, Rick and Judy Wilson, Judy’s mother, Violet Coursey, and Kathy’s aunt, Ann Cline, recently returned from a bus tour to Kentucky.  They saw the replica of Noah’s Ark, which they described as being so big it was almost unbelievable, and they toured an Amish settlement and had lunch in one of the Amish homes, where the meal was served family style.  They also enjoyed other points of interest before returning home.

Eaton’s Baptist Church lost one of its valuable long-time members last week when Bob Langston died at his home.  Bob and his wife, Marietta Rummage Langston, have been active at their church for many years.  Bob held a number of offices in the church, and he and his wife attended Eaton’s worship services each Sunday as long as they were able. Bob was buried in the cemetery at Eaton’s on Thursday afternoon.