Greenwood United
Methodist Church
 

The first appointments to the church were traveling ministers, such as Rev. William Stephenson, who served the Greenwood and Caddo Circuits. Between 1839 and 1840 the Methodists in the town met in homes and small log buildings until their white frame church was completed in 1840 at Magnolia Street and Bois d’Arc Lane. The small church had no steeple and lacked a bell. ¹

The first session of the Louisiana Methodist Conference met in Opelousas, Louisiana on January 6, 1847 and recognized the work of the Greenwood Methodist Church. Two preachers were appointed to the aforementioned circuits. The church was legally incorporated on November 10, 1858. ²

In 1870 the church at what is now 7038 Magnolia Street burned to the ground. ³From that time on meetings were held in the old two-story school located at the north side of the school grounds, which now belong to the Baptist Church. ⁴The church’s congregation could not afford to rebuild right away, so they continued to meet in the school from 1870 until 1893. ⁵ In 1879 they raised $1,000 to build a new church and had it completed in 1893.⁶

A new white frame church with a steeple and church bell was built on the same site as the first church, and the interior was furnished with red carpet and dark pews. The congregation grew and built a new church in 1916, moving the carpet and pews into the new church in 1916. This new church, built at Magnolia and Church Streets, reached a height of two stories with the first floor being used for Sunday school rooms and recreation. This church was used until September 28, 1928 when the church burned. The congregation moved as much of the furnishings as they could: the pulpit, piano, and pews.⁷

The fourth church was built for $12,000 in 1929 at the same location by Shreveport architect Edward F. Neild, who built the Caddo Parish Courthouse. ⁸The church’s high ceilings have been lowered, and the stained glass windows have been replaced as needed. It also contains two paintings of the older churches, the bell from the 1893 church, and a painting of Christ in Gethsemane by H. E. Edgar of Bethany, Louisiana, which hangs behind the choir loft. ⁹ Some of the auditorium windows came from the older churches. ¹⁰

References
                                                                                                                                        

                                                                                                                                                                             Back to Top
 

Parish of Caddo 2004©