The First United Methodist church of Jasper is not your
traditional county seat town United Methodist Church. First
of all there is a tremendous amount of history in this old
church. There is a stained glass dome
that occupies most of the ceiling of the sanctuary. I have
seen a lot of churches in my 30 years in the ministry. I
have traveled to England, Italy, Greece and to Israel but
I have never seen a stained glass dome to match this one.
There is a large brass plaque on one of the pews that marks
the place where President, Franklin D. Roosevelt sat when
he attended the funeral of William
Brockman Bankhead on September 17, 1940. The exterior
of this church also sets it apart. The exterior is white
marble. The church sits on the corner in downtown Jasper
across the street from the Court House. While these things
make the church different historically they are not the
things that really sets this church apart from other downtown
United Methodist Churches.
The things that really makes this church
different is what takes place inside each week. Our Sunday
mornings begin early around here. The celebration team begins
arriving between 7:00 and 7:30 a.m. This team arrives early
to set up the sanctuary for our “Celebration
Service” which is contemporary in nature. The
celebration team includes a praise band that plays most
of the music used in the service. The screen
is lowered over the choir loft for the video projection
equipment. At about 7:40 a.m. the team begins to run through
the music and other elements of the morning service. Coffee
and doughnuts are prepared to be served following the 8:30
service.
When the “Celebration Service” is concluded
the team then begins the work of preparing the sanctuary
for the 10:55 a.m. traditional service. The 10:55
a.m. Worship includes a robed choir and a new Casavant
Pipe Organ along with the traditional liturgy of the
United Methodist Church. In this service the screen is raised
and the video projection equipment is turned off, except
for rare special occasions. We want to keep the tradition
of this worship service. Now there are many churches that
offer a choice of traditional and contemporary worship.
But very few of them offer both in a historic sanctuary
with the kind of history
this one has.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays the “Hope Kitchen”
provides a hot meal for the down and out and the homeless
and the less fortunate of the community. The “Hope
Kitchen” operates in the fellowship hall of this
historic church. This is just one of the ways that this
church is making an effort to reach out to the community
around us.
I would like to invite you to visit this grand old church.
We have many groups who come to visit because of the history
of the church. But even more than that I would like to invite
you to come and worship with us. Choose the service that
best fits your style of worship or come and try them both.
If you do not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior
you will find people who will share their faith with you
and will give you an opportunity to find your own faith.
If you have placed your faith in Jesus you will find an
atmosphere where that faith can grow and increase. So please
come and worship with us.
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