Our History

It was the first Methodist church built in Troup County, Georgia. It is also the only 19th Century institution in LaGrange to hold continued occupancy in its original location. The congregation formed in January 1828, almost a year before the city received its official charter.

A frame building was constructed in 1831, the year that the Georgia Conference was created. This building hosted the Georgia Conference in 1833. The church became a sub-station with West Point in 1837 and a full station in 1841.

The first brick sanctuary of LaGrange First Methodist was built in 1858 following the pastorate of the Rev. Jesse Boring, who had been the first minister to preach in the log chapel of 1827. The brick building was Federal-style with six Ionic columns, tall windows and a steeple. The basement was used as a Confederate military hospital in 1863.

First Methodist’s fourth sanctuary was constructed in 1898 under the pastorates of the Reverends W.F. Quillian and A.C. Thomas. It was considered one of the most beautiful architectural structures in Georgia and featured enormous rose glass and crystal windows and was of Romanesque-Gothic style. An expansion program in 1937-1939, under the Reverends W.A. Tyson and M.M. Maxwell, saw construction of an Education Building and a new parsonage. A subsequent program, begun in the 1950s, yielded additional property and the completion of a Fellowship Hall in 1958 under the ministry of the Reverends Frank Moorhead and Claud Haynes.

The present sanctuary was constructed in 1963-1964 under the pastorate of the Rev. Bevel Jones. Many of the stained glass windows from the previous sanctuary were ultimately placed in the LaGrange College Chapel. A new Methodist Ministries Center was added in 2002 under the pastorate of the Rev. Greg Porterfield.

Enjoy learning more about our church’s role in the LaGrange community for almost 200 years.

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