The first record of the Methodist Church’s ministry in the Alderson area is that of John Smith, Methodist Circuit Rider. He rode the Greenbrier Circuit from July 4, 1787, until July 8, 1788, and kept a diary of his work. John Smith was the first ordained deacon of the Methodist Church at Rehoboth Chapel. His ordination was on July 4 and 5, 1788, by Bishop Francis Asbury, and he established his circuit aided by Bishop Asbury.

This circuit was large. Beginning at Rehoboth, he went across Peters Mountain up the valleys of what is now Allegheny County, back across to Hillsboro, down through Greenbrier County, across Muddy Creek Mountain, through Alderson, up Wolf Creek, and back to Rehoboth, taking in Monroe, a section of Virginia, Pocahontas County and Greenbrier. John Smith rode horseback, alone, and he tried to preach every day at a stop, usually at a home of a pioneer.

To read the journal of John Smith will bring tears to one’s eyes. He was a very sick man, so sick he now and then got off his horse to lie suffering in the wilderness. He was such a devout and dedicated preacher it's inspiring to read of his travels and work. He rode winter and summer in every weather, swimming the creeks and rivers on his horse, following paths and trails unfamiliar to him, preaching to people of every kind under the most primitive conditions. He had two stations on his circuit near Alderson. One was at Soaps (Swope’s) on Wolf Creek and one at Shoemakers on Muddy Creek. He preached once in the Greenbrier Baptist Church.

Two entries in his journal give an account of his meeting with Elder John Alderson, and they are an excellent commentary on both John Alderson and John Smith: Monday, Sept. 6, 1787 - "Preached at Soaps and on to old Baptist Preacher where I was kindly entertained he appears to be no bigot but very inquisitive" Tuesday, October 4, 1787 - "Preached today at Mr. Alderson’s church. A Baptist. The old man was present and show’d me great kindness.

John Smith did not meet with kindness in Lewisburg. The Reverend John McCue, the first Presbyterian minister there, violently opposed him and threatened him. McCue forbade his church members to listen to Smith. Their confrontation nearly approached physical violence by McCue. Smith termed Lewisburg "a little Sodom".

The last entry in Smith’s journal was on July 8, 1788. He was on his way to a Methodist Conference, and what became of him is not known.

Certainly, Methodism continued in this area. The minutes of the Old Greenbrier Baptist Church show that in January, 1806, a Baptist, Christian Smith, had been "communing with the Methodist Brethern, it being contrary to the discipline of this church." Baptist Brother Smith got out of trouble with his church by protesting he didn’t know it was wrong to commune with Methodists, and was forgiven. In February 1807, Baptist Joseph Riffe had joined the Methodist Society. The Baptists tried several times to get Brother Riffe to return to the fold. He did not and the Baptist Church said, "we declare non-fellowship by excommunication of Joseph Riffe, formerly as member of this church, for his immoral conduct, getting into unruly passions, fighting and neglecting to hear the church. We therefore deliver him to the kingdom of the World until the Lord please to give him repentence."

Nat G. Barnhart, a former Methodist minister in Alderson who wrote a history of Allegheny Collegiate Institute, also wrote a history of the Johnson Memorial Methodist Church condensed in The Christian Education Bulletin, July 1956. His condensed history and the papers of Joseph N. Alderson are used for this history.

In the records of Old Greenbrier Baptist Church April 27, 1872, permission had been given to "Mr. Lynch, a Methodist minister, to preach in our church when not occupied by us." The Reverend Jacob Lewis, a Presbyterian minister, was given the same privilege.

The Reverend Rufus M. Wheeler, a supply pastor of the Blue Sulphur Methodist Circuit, preached in Alderson from December 3, 1873, to March 11, 1874, and used the Old Greenbrier Baptist Church. The Reverend Lynch became pastor of the Blue Sulphur Circuit and preached first in the Baptist Church, then in a schoolhouse in South Alderson on the corner of Wickham and the lane alongside the present Joseph N. Alderson residence. 

The Reverend Lynch organized a "Methodist Society" of fifteen members in 1874. These charter members were: J. R. Beckner, Mrs. Bell Beckner, G. W. Graves, Jacob W. Bare, L. S. Alley, Miss Mamie Alley, Mrs. M. A. Hancock, Mrs. Frances Howell, Miss V. L. Hancock, Clark Howell, Mrs. McKinney, William G. Baber, Mrs. Caroline Baber, Miss Virginia Martha Baber, and Miss Bettie Baber.

For a long time there was but one Sunday School in South Alderson. It was held in the Presbyterian Church and Clark Howell, a Methodist, was Superintendent, as were most of the teachers. It was called Union Sunday School.

In 1882 a church building was erected in South Alderson on Church Street. The new church was dedicated October 16, 1882. The building committee was F. N. Burress, Frank Follansbee, L. S. Alley, and C. K. Sellings. The church was used until October 1917.

In 1911 the Reverend G. C. Beery raised money for a new church lot in North Alderson. After securing the lot, it was not until May 17, 1915 that a building committee for a new church was selected. They were S. R. Neel, R. L. Johnson, J. E. Keller, O. D. Massey, and E. Chase Bare, and a fund raising drive was started. From October 1917 until May 27, 1923, the congregation met in Jarrett-Massey Hall on the third floor of the Alderson National Bank, while the line brick church was being constructed.

The church congregation on May 11, 1921, unanimously approved the plans of the new church and on February 21, 1922, a contract was let to Phelps and Halloran, Charleston, to build it. The total cost of the lot, church and pipe organ was $52,452.86. The first service was on the last Sunday of May, 1923, and the church was known as Johnson Memorial Methodist Church in memory of J. F. Johnson.

Over the years the Church actively supported the establishment of other churches and chapels. In 1884-86 under the pastorate of W. H. Wolfe, a committee of three, J. E. Shields, J. E. Shires, and A. R. Gwinn, built the Trinity Methodist Church on Wolf Creek. W. R. Taylor, William Kirby and Enos Reynolds were trustees for the Griffith Creek Methodist Church. In 1889 the Church aided in building Griffith’s Chapel. In 1912 the minister, G. C. Beery, organized Fairview Church with sixteen members, and a church on Flat Mountain was built and used for sixteen years. Mrs. T. W. Flint was the Sunday School Superintendent at Glen Ray which operated for a number of years under the Church. Recounted elsewhere is the long support the local church gave Allegheny Collegiate Institute.

The first parsonage was on Church Street near the old Church, but the present parsonage is on Monroe Street in North Alderson, purchased from J. J. Tait in 1923.

The congregation used its church from 1923 until September 25, 1928, before it was dedicated. By then, the church was completely paid for. Bishop W. W. Peele of the Baltimore Conference performed the dedication. 

The present membership is 242. Ronald W. Talkington is pastor.

Ref: Journal of John Smith, Methodist Circuit Rider
Christian Education Bulletin. July 1956. Nat. G. Barnhart, "History of Johnson Memorial Methodist Church."
Papers of Joseph Newman Alderson
Greenbrier Baptist Church. Minutes.

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The contents contained in this series is copyrighted and the sole property of The Greenbrier Historical Society - Lewisburg, WV
Used by permission - November 18, 2008