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Welcome to the Parker UMC website and greetings to you in the name of the Lord and our Savior, Jesus Christ!
The slogan of the United Methodist Church is "Open hearts, open minds, open doors". At Parker UMC, these are not empty words. We are a friendly church in a friendly community with a friendly pastor. We realize that great opportunities abound for mission and ministry to the people of this area. We are ready and willing to share God's love and salvation everywhere, everyday to everybody.
Parker is a small church with an average weekly attendance of seventy-five. We believe in and teach the Scriptural truth of the New Testament and the Good News of Jesus Christ.
We enjoy lots of fellowship activities with a variety of functions throughout the year when we get together for food, fun and fellowship. We are truly blessed with wonderful, fun-loving, spirit-filled people.
We sponsor a variety of educational and learning activities including Children's time in worship, Sunday School, Vacation Bible School and more. Children are a top priority for us as we grow into disciples for Jesus Christ. We are a Safe Sanctuary Church in accordance with the NC Conference. What this means to you is that our nursery, children, and youth workers are committed to the highest level of care and protection for your children. We have instituted procedures to ensure that our volunteers are properly trained and the children are well-supervised. The entire policy is available on this page.
Adult Education classes vary throughout the year from weekly Bible studies and topic-related studies to Sunday School classes, mostly Bible based, although on occasion special topics of importance are discussed among the curious. An example is our special study of the Da Vinci Code and the questions brought forward by those who had read or heard about the book or seen the movie.
Our members are active in the United Methodist Men, United Methodist Women, and the United Methodist Youth Fellowship. We are eager to welcome others into our family and to share our resources and our selves with our growing community. We are a church with a rich history that has provided spiritual nourishment for almost one hundred years. We value the importance of tradition while at the same time we are intentional about presenting the Christian faith in ways that assure its relevance to our unique times.
We do hope that you will take the time to learn more about us through this website and also hope that you will have the opportunity to join us in person.
Parker UMC is a family
friendly church with an
active Youth Fellowship
for middle and
high school age
children,
a chapter of the United
Methodist Women and
United Methodist Men
and we also have
Sunday school and
Bible study classes
for all age groups.
History of Parker UMC
Parker’s Chapel was
organized on January 29, 1911 by the Reverend J. W. Bradley, who was then
pastor of the Raeford Circuit of the
The first trustees of the church were Louis Parker, Gary B. Parker, Hugh Haire and Thomas Hobson. These men purchased one and one-fourth acres of land from J.H. and Sarah K. Townsend in 1913 and made plans for the first church building. With the men of the church and community furnishing the timber and doing the work, the first building was completed and dedicated about 1915, with the name Parker’s Chapel being given to it.
The church made progress under the leadership of each of its ministers and members. After some twenty to twenty-five years, the first building began needing repairs. During the ministry of the Reverend E.R. Clegg, a building fund was started and during the early ministry of the Reverend E.C. Crawford, about 1940, the old building was remodeled and two Sunday School rooms were added. The need for a new building became evident and Reverend Crawford started another building fund which continued to grow each year from the proceeds realized from the annual Harvest Day and from the gifts of members and friends. Under the leadership of the Reverend W.L. Maness, the membership of the church and the building fund continued to increase.
Early in 1949, under the leadership of the Reverend P.O. Lee and the members of the Building Committee, and with a $1500 donation from the Duke Endowment, the present church was begun. Louis Parker, who died before the new church was completed, purchased the land for the new church from Preacher Alex Whitty. The first service in the new building was held on December 18, 1949, under the direction of Reverend Lee with the Reverend B.P. Robinson doing the preaching on the subject, “The Never Changing Christ.”
At the Annual Conference in
1962, the church became the Parker Church Charge and was appointed
students from
At the Annual Conference in 1966, the Church became a part of the
Hoke Charge, sharing a pastor with Sandy Grove Methodist church and
continues to be on this charge to the present. Also in 1966, construction
on a parsonage on
In 1939 with the merging of
the Methodist Episcopal Church,
Safe Sanctuary Policy
Leadership Development Procedures
Child Abuse Prevention and Procedures
