History

Pleasant Home United Methodist Church was built by Archon Kelly and his son, John, in 1884. The original church consisted of only one room where the sanctuary stands today. When the Kelly’s built the church, Archon planned to sell it to any established denomination in the area that wanted it. None of the area’s congregations were willing to buy the church, so Archon gave it to the Methodist Episcopal Church with which the family had ties when they lived in Kentucky. The Methodist Conference sent the first minister to serve the church in 1884. Since then, 52 different ministers have performed pastoral duties at Pleasant Home UMC.

 

It should be noted that Archon was very interested in having music in the church services, and he bought an Estey organ from Brattleboro, Vermont for $265.75. It was shipped “around the horn.” For some reason, however, Archon’s wife was adamantly opposed to having music in the church. To keep peace in the family, Archon gave the organ to one of his daughters, and it has been passed to several family members through the generations. Dick and Ann Kelly, the most recent owners of the organ, have very generously returned the organ to the church in February 2011.

 

In March 2014, the Thomas Organ which had served the congregation for many years, was replaced with a Rodgers Digital Organ model 445.  It was in part a Memorial to John Walter Williams III who died in April 2013 after having served the congregation in many leadership positions – the latest as Chair of the Administrative Council.

While the people of Pleasant Home UMC treasure the history of our church, we welcome the ideas of the modern generations with the hope that our doors will always be open!