Transforming lives by sharing the love of Jesus
OUR COMMUNITY
Serving the Mount Holly Community
First Methodist Church of Mount Holly, NC is celebrating 140 years of ministry!
CHURCH HISTORY
The First Methodist Church of Mount Holly was founded by circuit riders in 1883.
During that time, Methodists in Mount Holly shared a church building used by all
Christian denominations, on the present site of the Lutheran Church of the Good
Shepherd on South Main Street.
In 1883, thirty-eight members led by Reverend S. J. McLeod, organized the First
Methodist Episcopal (ME) - South, congregation in Mount Holly. The church was
part of the Gaston Circuit, Shelby District, which included eight other churches,
including Ebenezer and Moore’s Chapel in Mecklenburg County.
The Church continued to grow until March 1912, when during the pastorate of
Reverend J. A. Bowles, a catastrophe occurred, in the form of a high wind which
swept the church off its foundations during Sunday worship. The amazingly
resilient Church Trustees met that same afternoon and made plans to rebuild. A
new brick church was begun later that year at the corner of South Main and
Catawba Streets.
The church outgrew itself and in late 1958, land was purchased on North Main
Street where the church stands today. The church was completed in phases with
the main sanctuary finished in 1975.
In 1968, the Methodist Church merged with the Church of the United Brethren, to
create the United Methodist Church (UMC). In July of 2023, our congregation
voted to disaffiliate from the UMC and return to the doctrinal roots established by
our founder, John Wesley in the late 1700s. We are now a Global Methodist
Church (GMC) congregation. Link to GMC website
We have been richly blessed through the years with a succession of dedicated
pastors who made unique and valuable contributions to God and this wonderful
church family.
Our current and 47th minister, Reverend Dr. Barry Page Drum who with his wife Karen, moved here from Rocky Mount N.C. in July of 2023.
MISSION
Nurture Each Other in Faith
Our Mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ who worship passionately, love extravagantly, and witness boldly.
In our worship, we desire to surrender to and be fully devoted to one God—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We are passionate about what is important to God.
Jesus calls those who follow Him to love God wholeheartedly and love their neighbors as themselves. Our desire is to demonstrate to the world the extravagant love of God in the person of Jesus Christ.
We have been entrusted with a lifesaving and transforming message that we must share with others. Our witness is bold, compelling and fearless. Our mission advances when individuals become disciples of Jesus Christ and join God’s mission to make more disciples.
VISION
At the Heart of Everything We Do
Our Vision is to join God in a journey of bringing new life, reconciliation, and the presence of Christ to all people, and to helping each person reflect the character of Christ.
Through our ministries, we desire to share the whole counsel of God with all peoples and to advance the presence and fulfillment of the Kingdom of God in every part of the world and at all levels of societies and cultures. The Global Methodist Church is committed to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, the inspiration and authority of the Scriptures, and the work of the Holy Spirit in conveying God’s truth and grace to all people.
We are a global church that recognizes and deploys the gifts and contributions of each part of the church, working as partners in the gospel with equal voice and leadership. Our witness to the world is marked by mutual love, concern, sharing, and a focus on those who are most vulnerable. We watch over one another in love and bear witness to the transforming power of the Good News as we humbly, but boldly, strive to serve others as ambassadors of Christ!