First United Methodist Church, Eunice, Louisiana

ABOUT FUMC
First Methodist is an active congregation dedicated to its mission...making disciples for Christ.
We do so by joining our talents and gifts and working for the Kingdom of God. We grow stronger
as Christians as we share our faith, worship and praise, study God's Word, fellowship, pray, and
attend to the needs of our own faith community as well as those searching for a place to belong.

114 Years of Ministry 1894 - 2008
Reverend W.W. Fraser, a circuit rider, served as the church's first pastor in 1894. The congregation worshiped in private homes. On August 6, 1896, C.C. Duson, founder of Eunice, deeded the land on which now stands First United Methodist Church. All early Protestant marriages in Eunice were recorded in the Methodist church. Until 1905, when the Baptists built their own building, Baptists and Methodists held Sunday School on alternate Sundays in the one-room frame Methodist Church. In 1918, a new, larger frame building was built. The present brick sanctuary was completed in the early 1940s.

To find out more about United Methodist beliefs, creeds and doctrine, click on this InfoServ logo.

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Former Pastors

1894-1896 Rev. Fraser (Circuit Rider)
1896-1900 W.J. Porter
1900-1902 J.J. Kelly
1902-1906 J.D. Nesom
1906-1906 A.H. Parker
1906-1907 J.F. Patterson
1907-1910 S.D. Howard
1910-1012 J.I. Hoffpauir
1912-1913 W.H. Long
1913-1917 A.A. Bernard
1917-1918 J.D. Nesom
1918-1920 P.H. Fontaine (Eunice-Gueydan)
1920-1925 J.I. Hoffpauir
1925-1926 J.L. Cady
1926-1928 I.T. Reames
1928-1929 G.D. Purcell
1929-1930 R.T. Pickett
1930-1934 J.A. Knight
1934-1935 T.J. Holladay
1935-1938 M.W. Beadle
1938-1939 G.H. Corry
1939-1942 O.W. Spinks
1942-1944 A.A. Collins
1944-1946 H.B. Teer
1946-1951 James L. Stovall
1951-1957 Ned Stout
1957-1960 Wilson W. Watson
1960-1964 Robert W. Bengston (Eunice-Basile) (Eunice-Ville Platte)
1964-1964 Robert W. Bengston (Eunice-Ville Platte)
1964-1969 Robert C. Carter (Eunice-Ville Platte)
1970-1973 Carey A. Martin (Eunice-Ville Platte)
1973-1977 William I. Eubanks (Eunice-Ville Platte)
1977-1978 William V. Sirman (Eunice-Ville Platte)
1978-1979 George A. McVay, Jr. (Eunice-Ville Platte)
1979-1982 George A. McVay, Jr. (Eunice-Iota)
1982-1986 William A. Rowell, Jr. (Eunice-Iota)
1986-1989 Lillard Bevill (Eunice-Iota)
1989-1992 John W. Guyre (Eunice-Iota)
1992-1993 John W. Guyre (Eunice-Ville Platte)
1993-2000 Gary Van Horn (Eunice-Ville Platte)
2000-2001 Jenny Brouillette (Eunice-Ville Platte)
2001-2004 Frank Davis (Eunice-Pine Prairie)
2004-2006 Carolyn Volentine (Eunice-Iota)
2006- Truman Stagg (Eunice-Iota)

Methodist History

In 1729 England, a small group of Oxford University students were ridiculed as "Bible Bigots,"
the "Holy Club" and "Methodists" because they spent so much time in methodical prayer and
Bible reading. Led by John and Charles Wesley, the students held their ground against jeering students and went out to preach and pray with those considered to be the underbelly of English society.

The United Methodist Church is the result of a 1939 merger of three Methodist bodies (Methodist Episcopal, Methodist Episcopal South and Methodist Protestant churches), and a 1968 union of the Evangelical United Brethren and The Methodist churches.

Well-Known Methodists, just to name a few...

Charles Wesley - hymn composer, John's brother (1701-1788)
John Wesley - Founder of Methodism, a life-long Anglican (1703-1791)
George Whitfield - prominent early Methodist preacher (1714-1770)
Francis Asbury - first Bishop of American Methodism (1745-1816)
Thomas Coke - "Father of Methodist Missions" (1747-1814)
Richard Allen - founder of African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) (1760-1831)
James Knox Polk - 11th US President (1795-1849)
Sojourner Truth - abolitionist (1797-1883)
Daniel Payne - first black college president (1811-1893)
Harriet Tubman - abolitionist (1820-1913)
Fanny Crosby - one of the most prolific hymn writers in history (1820-1915)
Ulysses S. Grant - 18th US President (1822-1885)
Rutherford B. Hayes - 19th US President (1822-1893)
Thomas Welch - founder of grape juice company (1825-1903)
Geronimo - last Indian to surrender (1829-1909)
William Booth - Methodist minister, founder of The Salvation Army (1829-1912)
Bustavus Swift - founder of Swift and Company, meat producers (1839-1903)
William McKinley - 25th US President (1843-1901)
Dr. Walter Reed - Navy MD (1851-1902)
Arthur Henderson - Nobel Prize recipient (1863-1935)
Alben W. Barkley - US Vice President under Truman (1877-1956)
John R. Mott - missionary, statesman (1865-1955)
Stephen Crane - author of "The Red Badge of Courage" (1871-1900)
W.C. Handy - Father of the Blues (St. Louis Blues, Memphis Blues) (1873-1958)
Will Rogers - actor, American Cowboy, Entertainer, Humorist (1879-1935)
Wesley Branch Rickey - baseball executive, signed Jackie Robinson (1881-1965)
Bob Jones - founder of Bob Jones University (1883-1968)
E.J. Pratt - poet, Newfoundland Verse (1883-1964)
Chiang Kai-Shek - President of Nationalist China (1887-1975)
Fred Vinson - US Supreme Court Chief Justice (1890-1953)
William Foxwell Albright - authenticated the Dead Sea Scrolls (1891-1971)
Lester B. Pearson - former Prime Minister of Canada (1897-1972)
Madame Chiang Kai-Shek - 1st Lady of Nat'list China, The Dragon Lady (1898-2003)
Alfred P. Murrah - OK City Federal Building namesake (1904-1975)
Harry Blackmun - US Supreme Court Justice (1908-1999)
George Beverly Shea - Billy Graham ministries, worship leader (1909- )
Chiang Ching-Kuo - former President of Nationalist China (1910-1988)
Rosa Parks - Civil Rights activist, wouldn't sit in back of bus (1913- )
Cal Turner - founder of Dollar General Corporation (1915-2000)
John Connally - former Governor of Texas (1917-1993)
Robert Mitchum - actor (1917-1997)
Russell Long, US Senator, son of Gov. Huey Long (1918-2003)
Jackie Robinson - baseball player (1919-1972)
Howard Keel - actor, Clayton Farlow on Dallas (1919-2004)
Frank G. Clement - former Governor of Tennessee (1920-1969)
Donna Reed - actress (1921-1986)
George McGovern - politician, presidential candidate (1922- )
Cecil Underwood - former Governor of West Virginia (1922- )
Tom Landry - pro football coach (1924-2000)
Warren Christopher - US Secretary of State under Clinton (1925- )
Margaret Thatcher - former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1925- )
Abel Muzorewa - former President of Zimbabwe (1925- )
Fred Gwynne - actor, Herman on "The Munsters" (1926-1993)
Patricia Neal - actress (1926- )
Walter F. Mondale - US Vice President under Carter (1928- )
Frank O'Bannon, former Governor of Indiana (1930-2003)
Lee H. Hamilton - politician, 9-11 Commission vice chairman (1931- )
Richard Lugar - US Senator from Indiana (1932- )
Zell Miller - former US Senator from Georgia (1932- )
William Christopher - actor, Father Mulcahy on M*A*S*H (1932- )
Nina Simone - jazz singer (1933-2003)
Dr. Joycelyn Elders - first African American to serve as US Surgeon General (1933- )
Jayne Mansfield - actress (1933-1967)
Willie Nelson - musician (1933- )
George Ryan - former Governor of Illinois (1934- )
Bart Starr - football player (1934- )
Kirk Fordice - former Governor of Mississippi (1934-2004)
Charles Turnbull - Governor of the Virgin Islands (1935- )
Vernon Jordan - advisor to President Clinton (1935- )
Elizabeth Dole - US Senator from South Carolina (1936- )
John Poindexter - US Military, Iran Contra figure (1936- )
Roberta Flack - singer/composer (1939- )
Jeff Smith - chef, The Frugal Gormet (1939-2004)
Dionne Warwicke - singer (1940- )
Fran Tarkenton - football player (1940- )
Richard "Dick" Cheney - US Vice President under George W. Bush (1941- )
Dennis Hastert - Speaker of the US House of Representatives (1942- )
Ken Lay - former CEO of Enron (1942-2006)
Bob Taft - Governor of Ohio (1942- )
Charles "Buddy" Roemer - former Governor of Louisiana (1943- )
Dan Reeves - former NFL player and coach (1944- )
George Walker Bush - 43rd US President (1946- )
Laura Bush - First Lady of the United States (1946- )
Jeff Sessions - US Senator from Alabama (1946- )
Fox McKeithen - Louisiana Secretary of State (1946- )
Mack McLarty - President Clinton's Chief of Staff (1946- )
Tim Curry - actor (1946- )
Richard Carpenter - musician, The Carpenters (1946- )
Hillary Rodham-Clinton - US Senator from New York, former First Lady of the United States (1947- )
Richard Baker - US Congressman from Louisiana (1948- )
Roy Barnes - former Governor of Georgia (1948- )
Bill Graves - former Governor of Kansas (1949- )
Jim Gilmore - former Governor of Virginia (1949- )
Jim McCrery - US Congressman from Louisiana (1949- )
Rick Perry - Governor of Texas (1950- )
Karen Carpenter - musician, The Carpenters (1950-1983)
Rush Limbaugh - radio talk show personality (1951- )
Charles Tindley - gospel music composer (1951- )
Dirk Kempthorne - Governor of Idaho (1951- )
John Edwards - former US Senator from North Carolina, presidential candidate (1953- )
Mike D. McCurry - former White House Press Secretary to Pres Bill Clinton (1954- )
Kathleen Turner - actress (1954- )
Matt Groening - cartoonist, creator of The Simpsons (1954- )
Ronnie Musgrove - former Governor of Mississippi (1956- )
Charles Crist, Jr. - Governor of Florida (1956- )
Jim Hodges - former Governor of South Carolina (1956- )
Scott Pelley - journalist, 60 Minutes (1957- )
Boris Trajkovski - former President of Macedonia (1956-2004)
Robert Ehrlick Jr. - Governor of Maryland (1957- )
Leeza Gibbons - talk show host (1957- )
Ralph Reed - former head of the Christian Coalition (1961- )
Tori Amos - performer (1963- )
Toni Braxton - singer (1967- )