150 years on Blue Ridge St.
Before there were church buildings in Patrick County, there were traveling preachers and camp meetings in open fields. Our story starts there — and it's still being written.
Methodism came to Patrick County with its very founding in 1791.
Long before churches were organized and built, traveling preachers held camp meetings across these hills. The church at Taylorsville — the town often called "Patrick Courthouse," which became Stuart in 1884 — likely grew out of one such meeting in 1848, when forty-two people joined the Methodist faith in a single gathering.
By 1873, a Methodist congregation had organized, was meeting regularly, and had purchased the lot our church still stands on today — for seventy-five dollars. Everything that follows was built on that ground.
A century and a half, in moments.
Methodism comes to Patrick County
As the county itself is founded, traveling preachers begin holding camp meetings across the region.
Forty-two join the faith
A camp meeting at Taylorsville brings forty-two new additions to the Methodist faith — the seed of our congregation.
A congregation takes root
The church is organized, meeting regularly, and buys the Blue Ridge Street lot for $75 — the ground we still worship on.
The first church is built
A frame church rises on the lot. It would later be moved across the street in 1915 to make way for something grander.
The brick church opens
Completed and opened for worship in June, the brick sanctuary still stands today. Stuart became its own station appointment that year.
The narthex & stained glass
For the building's 30th anniversary, the front is remodeled to add a vestibule and stained-glass window, dedicated by Bishop W. W. Peele.
Stuart United Methodist Church
The Methodist and Evangelical United Brethren churches unite nationwide. Our church becomes Stuart United Methodist Church.
A new chapter: Living Water
The congregation leaves the UMC and becomes a fully independent church — Stuart Church of Living Water. Same deep roots, new life.
They purchased the lot on which our church stands today — for seventy-five dollars.
FROM THE CHURCH RECORDS, 1873Built, and rebuilt, by its people.
THE BUILDING THROUGH THE YEARS
When the brick church opened in 1916, it began a century of loving upkeep. In 1919, the eight memorial sanctuary windows were installed under the Reverend Norman A. Page. The 1946 remodeling added the narthex and stained glass in time for the 30th-anniversary celebration. Over the decades that followed, members gave what was needed — air-conditioning for the sanctuary and classrooms, a parking lot on the land behind the church, new sanctuary lighting, and in 1964 the removal of exterior paint and re-pointing of the mortar joints.
On July 17, 1966, the congregation marked the 50th anniversary of the present building, with former ministers returning to assist in the service. In the 1980s, under the Reverend R. Elwood Pack, the narthex was enlarged and a side entrance with a wheelchair ramp was added — a small thing that said a great deal about who this church wanted to welcome.
HOMES FOR THE MINISTERS
The church has always cared for its pastors. The first parsonage was built around 1901 on Chestnut Street for the minister of the Patrick Circuit. A new one followed in 1952, and in 1980 the trustees purchased a home on Akers Drive, dedicated debt-free in 1984.
A Growing Family
Through the generations, the life of the church deepened. The first church directory was published under the Reverend John E. Davis, Jr. Newsletters, welcome brochures for newcomers, Bible studies, and "Wonderful Wednesday" programs all took root under later pastors. Vacation Bible School grew from forty children in 2001 to well over a hundred by 2003 — a joyful sign of a congregation still reaching outward.
Our pastors since 1968.
A new chapter.
In 2023, we made the difficult decision to leave The United Methodist Church. It wasn't made lightly — but we felt the doctrines this church was founded on were no longer being upheld, and we couldn't stay where we couldn't stand.
Today we're a fully independent church. We own our building, we govern ourselves, and we write our own bylaws — anchored in the traditional Methodist beliefs that have shaped this congregation for 150 years.
What changed wasn't our faith. It was our freedom to hold to it. We worship now as Stuart Church of Living Water:
same deep roots, new life.
Come be a part of what's next.
A hundred and fifty years in, we're still gathering, still growing, still saving a seat for whoever walks through the door. Maybe that's you.
