Bellevue United Methodist Charge

Serving God in Community and Around the World

About Us

Phone:(540) 586-1876

E-mail: BellevueUMC@verizon.net

  Summary Timeline of Oakland History

                            “148 years”

1. Deed for the land was first recorded March 26, 1858.

2. Church was built prior to the outbreak of the Civil War,

    1858 or 1859. Description of the property referred to

     numerous trees, chiefly oaks, therefore the church

     was named “Oakland” for the church which stands in

    the “land of oaks.”

3. First two stained glass memorial windows behind the

     pulpit were given in 1943.

4. Front two Sunday school rooms were added and the

     entire building was brick encased in 1946. Bricks were

    donated by Mr. H.B. Campbell.

5. Front two stained glass memorial windows were given

    in honor of Mr. Campbell by Mr. and Mrs. Harry Turpin,

     and the interior of the church was renovated in 1952.

6. Bellevue parsonage was dedicated in 1958.

7. Four stained glass memorial windows in the Sanctuary

     were given in 1960.

8. The Educational Building was built in 1962 and

     dedicated June 29,1969.

9.  Church steeple was added in 1985.

10.Four stained glass memorial windows in the front

      Sunday school rooms and the stained glass memorial

      Transom over the Sanctuary door were dedicated

     September 27, 1987.

11.Chimes were installed in 1988 and dedicated in 1989.

12. Paving of the parking lot was completed in 1992.

13. Plans for the building of the new Fellowship Hall and

       renovations on the existing buildings began in 2002.

14. Phase I - new Fellowship Hall, Kitchen, etc. were

      completed in  April, 2005.

15. Phase II - renovations on the existing buildings

       were completed in August, 2005.

16. Consecretation Service September 11, 2005.

To contact us call: 540-586-1876

A History of Bethany United Methodist Church

1. In 1878, the people of the village of Norwood authorized Thomas S. West of the Methodist church and Spotswood Brown of the Presbyterian Church to purchase what is known as “Grange Hall” from E. W. Horsley for the sum of $125.
2. The deed was recorded in Bedford County, and the Methodists and Presbyterians jointly used the Hall for a number of years under the name “Union Chapel.”
3. On May 24, 1891, the Rosebud Missionary Society (now United Methodist Women) began at Union Chapel.
4. By 1899, the Methodist membership had outgrown the facility and purchased the Presbyterian half-interest with plans to expand.
5. Thomas W. White and Henry F. Padgett offered one acre nearby, and on September 25, 1900, Henry F. and Mary Gordon Padgett conveyed the land to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

6. J. Hopkins Cofer built Bethany Church with lumber donated by Alfred S. Overstreet and hauled to the site by his son Charles R. Overstreet.

7. The new Bethany Church was dedicated in 1901.
8. In 1913, the nine-church Bedford Springs Circuit divided and formed a new Central Bedford Circuit, consisting of Bethany, Oakland, Nazareth, Mt. Carmel, and Ivy Chapel.

9. Land was purchased from C. N. Horsley on September 5, 1914, for the sum of $264.00, and a parsonage was built between Bethany and Oakland.
10. In 1928, the name of the circuit was changed to the Bellevue Charge, and Ivy Chapel was no longer a member of the charge after October 1929.
11. In 1940 the name Bethany Episcopal Church, South, was changed to Bethany Methodist Church.
12. In October 1952 Mildred V. Long, the only woman to serve as pastor, was appointed. During her ministry, a new parsonage was built in 1956.

13. In April 1960, the new Educational Building was completed.
14. A well was drilled and bathroom facilities were installed in 1963; electric heat was installed in October 1966; the breezeway between the sanctuary and the educational building was enclosed in November 1966; an electric organ was placed in the sanctuary in August 1969; a new piano was purchased in April 1973.

15. Bethany celebrated its Centennial Anniversary (1878 Ð 1978) on September 10, 1978.
16. A vestibule was completed July 31, 1981, and dedicated September 13, 1981. Two memorial windows, made by Robert G. Heim, were installed in the vestibule. One window was given in memory of Charles R. Overstreet and the other in memory of Mrs. Ineze Scott Langford whose sketch was the basis of the vestibule design.

17. On December 20, 1981, Rev. William A. Winfree conducted the last service at Nazareth Church.
18. In June, 1989, a steeple was added.

19. On October 21, 1996, the massive oak trees in the churchyard were cut in preparation for construction of the new Fellowship Hall.
20. The Fellowship Hall was dedicated on September 18, 1997.