Eugene M. Frank			Gerald Bunting			E.C. Ellis
   Bishop			   Minister			Dist. Supt.

			Sunday School    9:30 A.M.
			Church		 7:00 P.M.
			 First and Third Sundays


			THE CENTENNIAL PROGRAM

		       October 5, 1969    2 P.M.


	PRELUDE						Miss Donna Oliver
	HYMN	    	Church in the Wildwood		By congregation
	CALL TO WORSHIP	
	DOXOLOGY					Congregation
	PRAYER
	DUET			Mrs. Calvin Bishop and Mrs. Roger Scott
	REDEDICATION OF CHURCH BUILDING
	THE HISTORY OF BETHEL CHURCH
	CONGREGATION PARTICIPATION
	HYMN		God Be With You			Congregation
	BENEDICTION

	It is not our purpose, in this history, to glorify the past; but if 
we do not remember what we have been, we cannot understand what we are, or 
know what we can be.  Every generation holds in trust a rich heritage from 
past generations, adds to that heritage, and passes it on to a new 
generation.

	This brief history of our beloved Bethel Church has been prepared, 
in the reverent hope and belief that the human successes and failures of 
these first hundred years are but an humble foundation for greater successes 
and smaller failures as we go forward into our building's second century.  
There may be inaccuracies in the following history, and for these we 
apologize; but the research has been as through as time and available 
materials would allow.

	Not much information has yet been turned up about the beginnings of 
this congregation.  It is much older than the building whose hundredth 
anniversary we celebrate today.  The earliest known settlement in this area 
of Montgomery County was Cobbtown, 1823.  It consisted of a father, two or 
three sons and a nephew, of the name Cobb, and their families, and was 
somewhere southwest of the site of Bethel.  John Oliver and Samuel Bishop 
settled east and south of this site by 1826.  Other known early settlers 
were the Maupin family to the north, the Harpers to the south, the Randolphs 
to the west, the Walkers and Harrisons.

	There is a local tradition that early campmeetings were held on 
these acres, and a printed statement in an 1885 County Album, that a church 
was organized sometime prior to 1840.  A log church was built about that 
time, later destroyed, with the early records, by fire.

	A second log building was raised; and it was in use until the 
present frame structure was erected.  The log church was then moved to a new 
location, on the farm of Samuel C. Bishop, where it served for a number of 
years as the home of the Austin Pate family.

	The worshippers in these rustic churches were probably served at 
infrequent intervals by traveling preachers.  The first possible preacher 
for whom a name is known, would be the Rev. J.W. or John Cook.  He is known 
to have lived on a farm in Callaway County, and to have been the first 
Methodist pastor at Wellsville, in 1855, and at Montgomery City, in 1859.

	The Rev. Cook was arrested, first by Confederate soldiers, later by 
Union soldiers, and possibly died in a military prison in 1861.

	During the rest of the Civil War years, the churches of this area 
probably were not active; but in 1865, Bethel Church was reorgnized, through 
the efforts of William Eads.  Among the first members were Mr. and Mrs. C.D. 
Maupin, and Mr. R. Harrison.

	At the Annual Conference of Sept. 18, 1866, Bethel was in the St. 
Charles District of the Missouri Annual Conference.  The Rev. George Smith 
was the preacher in charge, and his circuit included Bethel, Martinsburg, 
Middletown, Montgomery City, Mount Zion, Pleasant Grove, and Wellsville.  
Bethel was the oldest and largest group.

	In 1868 M.L. Eads was pastor, and a committee composed of C.D. 
Maupin, Allen Henley, and E.R. Brown was named to prepare for building a 
church.  J.W. McDaniel received two acres, one from O.H. Maupin and one from 
Wm. O. Randolph, on which to build a church.

	Detailed specifications, still in existence, were drawn up by these 
three men and J.W. and E.B. Overstreet, builders.  The building was to be 
finished "on or about October 1st, 1869."  The trustees furnished the 
foundation, and did all hauling from Montgomery City to the building site.  
White pine timbers were rafted down the Mississippi to Clarksville and 
brought overland by ox team.  Two of the local men who are said to have 
helped with the construction were Clifton Hayes and D.J. Whitehead.

	The preacher in charge at the time of construction was Henry Craig, 
the presiding elder, Andrew Moore, and the bishop G.F. Pierce.

	In 1869, Authur T. and Mary B. Maupin deeded land for a burial 
ground to the three above named men and Reason P. Harrison and Thomas 
Travis.

	The hand-made pews of yellow poplar are said to have been made by 
Wm. N. Walker.  They were not ready when the church was finished, so the 
benches from the old log church were carried into the new building and used 
for a time.

	In 1870, with Zachary Jones as preacher, the first Sunday School was 
started.  Jesse Sutton, in 1871, found his new circuit of six churches in a 
"cold lukewarm condition."  Thos. Penn was pastor in 1872-3.  The first 
death recorded in the church record was that of William Bishop, Feb. 8, 
1873; and the first infant baptism was that of Wm. Franklin Bowers, son of 
Phil and Sarah Bowers, by J.P. Nolan, presiding elder, Aug. 31, 1873.

	J.Y. Blakey was the pastor in 1874-5.  There are two interesting 
items in the church records, Feb., 1874:  "One hymn book was presented to 
the church by E.R. Brown, worth $1.65" and "On motion, a committee was 
appointed to investigate the conduct of some of the members who have been 
guilty of dancing."

	Five members removed by letter from church rolls were James and 
Isabella Walker, Dec. 27, 1874.  Moved to California.  There were 9 teachers 
and 35 pupils in Sunday School -- "not using Methodist literature."

	The Rev. John F. Shores, 1876-77, presented two old deeds that were 
supposed to have been lost, probably the 1868 deeds; but meantime the church 
grounds had been recorded at the Montgomery County Courthouse, half in 1870 
by W.O. Randolph, half in 1872 by Allen Henley.

	On Aug. 28, 1878, twenty-nine adult baptisms may have been the 
result of a protacted meeting, under the pastor R.G. Loving.  Benjamin 
Norris, whose locally famous tombstone may be seen in Bethel cemetery, was 
one of those baptized.

	Henry Kay was pastor in 1879 and 1880.  The closing of the Sunday 
School during the winter months, apparently a custom for many years to come, 
is first mentioned.

	The following years found Bethel under the pastorates of the 
Reverends G.M. Edwards, J.R. Taylor, C.E. McClintock, S.P. Roberson, M.L. 
Gray and W.O. Medley.

	Under Rev. Medley, Hattie Oliver and Charles Dillard were married in 
the church, the only known wedding here until that of Beverly Sublette and 
Larry Robinson in 1960.

	In 1891, Mrs. Camilla V. Oliver gave a strip of land on the east 
side of the cemetery to enlarge it.  Rev. B.W. Sipple was preaching here in 
1891 and 1892.  Reverends E.L. Kendrick, Rice, Sysloff, and Kimsey filled 
the pulpit from 1893 until Bro. Sipple began his second pastorate here, 1897 
to 1899.  The 20th century brought us Reverends H.D. Thompson, A.S. Bowles, 
W.C. Rice, and then Rev. T.P. Middleton in 1903-04-05.  About this time we 
have the first mention of Children's Exercises.  It was usually held on a 
Sunday in June, with recitations and songs by the children and a big basket 
dinner at noon.  The children lined up by twos to march up wooden steps and 
across the wooden porch, to enter the church.  They were warned not to step 
on the rotted wooden top of the well at the back of the church.  The 
concrete top now on the well has the date 1916 and probably this and the 
present concrete porch and steps were added that year.

	Reverends J.R. McMurry, A. Snowden, and R.O. Triplett were pastors 
next, and in 1909 to 1911, W.T. May served.  Rev. C.L. Uht preached at 
Bethel in the years 1912 to 1916.  He held at least one protacted meeting 
here with a Rev. J.W. Slade of McCredie.

	The Sunday School was still closing for the winter quarter and the 
Rev. C.K. Shilling, serving the Wellsville-Middletown-Bethel circuit in 
1918, found two Sunday Schools active and one "hybernating"!  Rev. W.H. 
Ellington in 1817 had found three Sunday Schools "doing fairly good work, 
yet not as efficient as they might be."  Bethel was on circuit with 
Middletown in 1920 and B.E. Miller was pastor.

	In 1921, '22, and '23, with Rev. W.N. Giddens in charge, Bethel was 
back on circuit with Montgomery City.  Rev. Giddens was instrumental in 
getting the present road in front of the church.  Until this time, the road 
turned northwest and crossed the creek in two places.  When the men of the 
community were through cutting away timber and brush, they still had a dirt 
road, but the church was much more accessible for the new vehicles known as 
automobiles.

	W.O.G. Potter, 1924 through 1928, and C.A. Bowles, 1929 through 
1934, served two of the longer pastorates here.  In 1931, attendance was 
hampered by a hot summer; but in 1933 Bro. Bowles found more people 
attending church than any time in the past twenty years.  Seventeen new 
members were added to the church rolls in 1933, several of them being 
baptized by immersion in a deep hole in Loutre Creek, south of the church.  
There were two very large young people's classes in the thirties.  A boys' 
class, taught first by Orville Johnson, later by Obe Walker, and a girls'
class, taught first by Katie Johnson, and then by Ethel Cheeseman.

	The Montgomery County convention of the W.C.T.U., with the state 
president presiding, met here in the thirties.  The Ladies Aid Society began 
about this time, with an organizational meeting at the home of Mrs. Rosalie 
Walker.  One of their first projects were the making of a yo-yo quilt which 
Mr. Lee Oliver bought for $25.00.  Another time, the project was a wool 
comforter.  The group sponsored at least one young lady in nurse's training. 
The young people of the church and Sunday School produced a number of plays, 
for fun and profit, which are still fondly remembered.

	In 1934, the church roof was repaired, but by 1936, it needed a 
complete re-roofing, coast $615.00.  Fortunately, Rev. Fred Armstrong, our 
pastor for 1935 throught 1939 was the type of man who worked right along 
with his parishoners, with hammer and saw.

	Fred Statler was pastor in 1940, when the Ladies Aid purchased a 
piano and a new carpet for the church.  Theron G. McGee served in 1941 and 
Mims Thornburgh Workman in 1942-44.  Our beloved J.C. McDaniel served five 
years followed by J. Preston Cole and J.C. Mongtomery, Jr.  Sometime during 
this period, one of the huge old trees at the back of the church was blown 
onto the east wall of the building, smashing it badly.  The damage was soon 
repaired but the extent of it is still observable in the cut boards at the 
top of the wall.  Each siding board of the undamaged lower half reaches the 
full width of the church.

	The original pulpit area had been a small raised dais, with a 
U-shaped bannister communion railing.  In the 1940's this was replaced by a 
platform across the entire width of the church, the original railing being 
used to form a straight line at the front of the platform.

	The Reverend E.R. Slovensky, to who we owe a debt for much of this 
historical information, came to Bethel in 1953.  At least two revival 
meetings were held in his time, one with the late Rev. Harold Spicklemeier 
of Wellsville preaching, in 1953, and one with Edwin Jones preaching, in 
1954.

	The Rev. Paul White served Bethel and Montgomery City Circuit 1957 
through 1960.  Fifty-seven members were listed on the revised church roll of 
1960.  The latest infant baptisms were the three children of Tom and Norma 
Wad Korman, by Rev. White on Easter Sunday, 1960.

	Three student ministers practised their new professions with Bethel 
as their proving ground:  Mr. Floyd Blackard in 1961, Mr. Robert Christian 
in 1962 and 1963, and Mr. S. Brad Hunt in 1964 and 1965, so as a 
congregation, we can feel that we have sent forth new men for God's work on 
earth.

	From 1966 through 1968, we were fortunate to have as pastor, Rev. 
Norman Charter, a man born and raised in the London, England, which gave us 
our church founders, the Wesleys.

	Our present pastor is Gerald Bunting, latest but not last of the 
long line of men who have shepherded the sheep in this corner of the Lord's 
fold.

	Miss Charlotte Burtner, Methodist deacosess, served Bethel along 
with other churches in Montgomery County, in the early sixies.  She worked 
particularly with the young people of the community, reviving the daily 
vacation Bible school habit here at Bethel, and organizing the MYF, a group 
which has since sponsored a great many useful subjects.  The MYF has bought 
new hymn books, the pictures in the church, a fine Bible Dictionary, and the 
American flag; and made the piano, pulpit and communion table scarves, and 
the Sunday School attendance board; and contributed substantially to the 
latest interior redecoration in 1967.

	The Ladies Aid Society became the W.S.C.S. in 1940, celebrated 25 
years as the W.S.C.S. in 1965, and, with the Union of the Methodist 
Episcopal and United Brethren churches in 1968, reorganized as the W.S.C.S. 
of the United Methodist Church.

	There is little space left to mention the various activities that 
have been associated with Bethel Church, and that have meant so much to the 
people of this community down through the years:  the Fifth-Sunday basket 
dinners; the young people's church camps which our youth attended; the times 
Bethel hosted the member churches of the Greater Montgomery County Parish; 
the family reunions; the 4-H events; the ice-cream suppers; and Annual 
Sunday School Picnics in August, which in late years have taken us as far 
afield as the Old German School in Hermann, the Churchill church erected in 
Fulton, the Mark Twain birthplace in Florida, and the State Historical 
Museum at Jefferson City.

	It is staggering to contemplate the number of lives affected in some 
way by the activities in this building down through the years.  Perhaps Mrs. 
Mellie Johnson, a former member of Bethel, now 97 years old, of Paradise, 
California summed it up in her letter:  "...  So the little acorn we planted 
has grown to a large oak.  It made me very proud to know it.  Now old Bethel 
is in the hands of the 3rd generation.  I hope they keep it alive and it 
will serve another 100 years!"

Charles D. Maupin			Betty Ward
Virginia D. Maupin			Lucy Ward
William B. Maupin			John Norman
Mattie E. Maupin			Edward C. Poindexter
Allen Henley				John T. Randolph
Lucy Henley				Mary S. Randolph
Sallie Henley				Joseph Poindexter
Fannie Henley				Lizzie Poindexter
Thomas Henley				Maggie Harmon
Lucy Slaughter				Miranda J. Noel
Shelton Oliver				Eliza Kelley
Virginia Oliver				Mary Ann Stewart
William Oliver				Francis Henley
William Bishop				Missouri Appling
Poindexter S. Clement			Thomas R. Fish
Mattie Clement				Amelia Anderson
Bettie Hudson				Sarah Bowers
James Walker				Asbury Owen
Isabella Walker				Fannie Owen
Darthula D. Walker			Nancy M. Henley
Fannie Walker				Mattie Susan Maupin
Bernard T. Maupin			Mary L. South
Arthur L. Maupin			Mollie Poindexter
Reson P. Harrison			Sarah Bishop
Pirena Norris Cobb			Mrs. Jinnie Maupin
Erastus R. Brown			Amanda L. McCormack
Jane L. Brown				Mrs. Ellen McCormack
Ann Harper				Emma Bishop
Thomas R. Turk				Mary A. Walker
Sarah W. Turk				R.A. Walker
Ann Eliza Turk				George Walker
Alice Bishop				Marion Walker
Nancy C. Wren				Oswin H. Maupin
William H. Moore			James N. Spain
Samuel Bishop				Lucie A. Spain
Fannie McHoney				Z.T. Hayes
Mary Tennison				Eliza Hayes
Jacob Quick				W.C. Hayes
Emma S. Harris				Hellen A. Hayes
William Ward				Phebe A. Walker

		Trustees:
			Mr.  Howell Bishop
			Mr.  S.A. Oliver, Jr.
			Mrs. Aretha Johnson

		Stewards:
			Mr.  Stanley Oliver, Chairman
			Mrs. Lucile Robinson, Sec.-Treas.
			Mrs. Neva Poindexter
			Mrs. Elnora Poindexter
			Mrs. Bessie Whitehead



	Our appreciation and thanks go to all who have helped in any 
	way to make this centennial worthy of the ocassion.