Nahunta United Methodist Church

The Nahunta United Methodist Church History

The Nahunta United Methodist church was one of seven Churches of the Charge of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. The other six were, Hoboken, Pierce Chapel, Atkinson, Waynesville, Hortense, and Raulerson Chapel.
Nahunta United Methodist Church was organized in 1916. Services were being held in the living room of Mr. and Mrs. W. M. Roberson, lovingly known as Uncle Bill and Aunt Sally. There were approximately twenty-five members at that time. The Roberson home was located across from the church. Special services and revivals were held in a tent erected on the site where Southeastern Bank now stands. Most of the residents of the area were descended from the Primitive Baptist. Uncle Bill and Aunt Sally Roberson had joined a Methodist Church in Wayne County before moving to the village of Nahunta and brought Methodism with them.

People were beginning to migrate from the north to the south and the sales of land were rapidly increasing. The present site of this church was obtained through the efforts of the Honorable and Mrs. W. M. Roberson and in a deed dated August 22, 1919 from L. S. Robb of Glynn County and the sum of one dollar the site was accepted by the trustees of the Nahunta Methodist Episcopal Church South of the County of Wayne and the Village of Nahunta. Those Trustees were J. B. Lewis, B. G. Middleton, and W. M. Roberson. Mr. Robb owned a company called Wayne County Development Co. and sold lots to people migrating here from the north.

When construction began in 1921, Mr. Elliot Knox disassembled some unused turpentine houses and donated the lumber, which had to be hauled from Lulaton by wagon and ox cart. Mrs. A. B. Brooker gave lumber that her Father, Mr. W. M. Roberson, had sawn and prepared for a house that they had not yet built. She was promised that more would be cut and sawn for her when she was ready to build.

Members and friends volunteered labor to help build the church. The majority of which were Men from Michigan and Ohio who had bought land and intended to live in the area. However, farming and stock raising was so very different and difficult that they left their places and returned to their home states. “Dad” Brown, Glen Condit, and J. B. Lewis stayed and helped build the Church. Among those from the North was the Reverend J. D. Snyder. The Reverend Snyder pastored the Nahunta Church in 1920. The first Pastor in the new Church was the Reverend Aaron Kelly who stayed until 1924.