Rockport United Methodist Church, which was established two centuries ago in Arkansas Territory and has a history of Methodist circuit riders preaching in Methodists’ homes, will mark its 200th anniversary with a celebration today.
The church will have worship services at 10:30 a.m., followed by lunch at noon.
Gary Mueller, bishop of the Arkansas Conference of the United Methodist Church in Little Rock, will bring the message. The gospel-singing group The Arkansans, from the Bismarck area, will present special music.
The Rev. Troy Cate, pastor of the local church since 2013, said the public is invited to today’s celebration. The church is at 1779 Lodge St. in Rockport.
According to a printed history of the church, which was distributed Oct. 5, 2014, when the church noted its 198th anniversary, Rockport United Methodist Church “sprang from seeds planted on the banks of the Ouachita River in the Arkansas Territory of 1815.”
Christian Fenter, an early settler, came to Rockport in 1815, and by 1816, he and his wife were opening their home to Methodist circuit riders for a place to stay and as a meeting place for the Methodists in the area. John Henry and William Stevenson are credited with being the first Methodist ministers in the Arkansas Territory. They preached to the Rockport Methodists in their homes until 1836.
In 1836, Samuel Emerson donated the land for the first Rockport Methodist Church, which was a log structure. In 1849, Nicholas Miller donated land for a second building, which served as the church for 22 years. In 1871, a new frame building was erected; the bell from that early church is now at Henderson State University, which was originally established as a Methodist college.
According to the church’s history, the Rockport congregation voted in 1877 to move the church to Malvern. Eleven years later, the congregation built a brick church in Malvern. Church members remaining in Rockport had met and held services in the Rockport schoolhouse under the leadership of the Rev. J.W. Keith. Keith paid the Methodists of Malvern $50 for the old frame church and helped move it to its current site. This site was owned by Masonic Lodge No. 58, which had moved to Malvern. In 1941, church trustees George Collie, Guy Haltom and J. Millard Smith paid $100 to Mr. and Mrs. Charles Butler for the land that the church stands on today.
Today’s church remains on the original log structure.
Olivia Pierce, 76, longtime church member and historian, said two rooms were added to the frame structure in the 1930s, and a fellowship hall was added in the 1950s. Stained-glass windows were installed in the 1990s, as was a steeple. This year, new front doors have been added to the building, which sits on a large grassy knoll facing gigantic oak trees.
“The roof was also lowered to save energy,” Pierce said of the church building. “I have a vague memory of a wood stove sitting in the front of the sanctuary.
“We’re small but still very active.”
Pierce added that the church has 57 members.
“We prepare a meal about once a month for Shorewood Hills [United Methodist Church] in Jones Mill and keep a food bank there in case of emergencies,” she said.
Pierce said regular church services include Sunday School at 10 a.m. and worship at 11.
“We have mostly older members, but we are seeing some younger members come in, which is good,” she said.
Pierce said she remembers “some old-time stories” from the church’s early history.
“I remember my parents, Ann and Oliver Lancaster, talking about the time President Roosevelt visited the church in 1936,” she said. “That’s the reason the road between here and Hot Springs was paved.
“Residents along the way were asked to whitewash their trees. My mother and dad said the president didn’t get out of his car, but he stood up and talked to the church members.”
According to information in the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture (encyclopediaofarkansas.net), President Franklin Roosevelt visited the state in 1936 during Arkansas’ centennial celebration. After morning events in Hot Springs, Roosevelt and his party, which included his wife, Eleanor, attended a service at the Methodist Church in Rockport, which was followed by a parade.
As a testament to this event, a framed front page of a Malvern newspaper hangs on one of the walls in the church. Other memorabilia found on the church walls include several paintings and drawings of the old church, as well as photographs of former pastors.
Pierce said another story dates back to the Civil War, when “Gen. Lee’s army camped in an open field in front of the present church site.”
“We are happy about this celebration,” Pierce said. “We invited everybody. … We want the whole world to know about it.”
Kay Donihue, 64, also a lifetime church member, said the congregation expects “a good response” for today’s celebration.
“Every time we have a homecoming, we have at least 100 people,” she said.
“We’re hoping for a packed house,” Pierce added.
“People can sit down here at tables in the Fellowship Hall, and we will have tents set up outside. Our last celebration was two years ago, and we had a good turnout then.”