Montcalm United Methodist Church --- A History
The land for the church was donated by William Henry Harrison Herndon. Later because there were two towns named Riverside, the N & W railroad suggested the name be changed to Montcalm, in honor of General Montcalm. The church's name was also changed to Montcalm Methodist.
The original building, which still stands with some renovations, was put together by square nails.
The Montcalm Church has been in four districts and two Conferences. It has been in the Radford, Jefferson. Tazewell and Bluefield Districts, and in the Holston and West Virginia Conferences.
It is interesting to note that people from Montcalm had to cross a swinging bridge to get to the church. A steel bridge was then built, replaced by the bridges of today.
Viola Herndon Parker provided a lot of this early background of the church's beginning as it was her grandfather who donated the land the church stands on. Her parents, Fred and Mary Elizabeth Belcher Herndon were influential in the growth of the church.
Some names come to mind that have been instrumental in making the church what it is today. They are: J.M. Wysor, P.D. Bratton, A.L. Graves, P.D. Bratton, A.L. Graves, F.D. Williams, King family, Cyrus and Harriet Bailey, J.C. Fanning, Buz Honaker, John Horne, Warner Neal, Harry Fulford, Jimmy Wall, Alvin and Rosalie Hedrick, S.W. and Ruth Foy, Andy and Hallie Wright, Kate Underwood, W.L. Warden, Robert and Marie Vawter, Coffer Pennington.
The church bell was obtained from the Goodwill Methodist Church which disbanded in the 1940's.
In the 1930's the Sunday School rooms were put in. Andy Wright was in charge of the project. In the 1940's the huge chandelier, which first had kerosene lights ,on it, then it was electrified by putting on electric lights, was taken down and the present lights were installed.
During Dewey Lacy's term as pastor the basement was built and the kitchen was put in.
Present active members who have been members over fifty years are:Elizabeth Hall, Lil Peterson, Sam and Virginia Zeoli.
There have been three members that we know of that have become ministers. They are: Johnny Ray Bucchi, A preacher for the Church of God; Ronnie Hedrick, A priest for the Catholic Church and Sam Zeoli who preached for the Methodist Church for 26 years.
SPECIAL DONATIONS AND CONTRIBUTIONS.
The Memorial windows: By the Testerman family in honor of Brenda Testerman; Wilson family in honor of Herbert Wilson; In memory of Fred Munsey by Wife; In memory of Rev. Dean by family; By C .R. Robbins; In memory of Alice Burgess by the Underwood family; by Corer Pennington; By Otis Martin; By the Graves family in honor of A.L. Graves.
Baptismal Font by the White family in honor of their mother Elizabeth Owens White; The Pulpit by Mr. & Mrs. Cravens and Mr. & Mrs. Ernie White. The Pulpit flags by the Woodman of the World; Communion table in honor of William H. Herndon and wife Mary E. Herndon by children; Offering Plates by the Hardy family; Crosses at the front of the Worship Center by Jim Pritchett; Altar Curtain by the Martin family; Cross and Flame Symbol in front of the church by the Zeoli family; Front Door by the Quillian family; Ceiling fans by Rosalie Hedrick in honor of Alvin Hedrick; Large Cross in front of church building by Margie Wolf in honor of Bruce Wolf; The Late Warner Heal gave the church a $25,000 donation.
Sam Zeoli, Melissa Mitchell Goosens and Teresa Jennings spent a day in the Emory & Henry College library researching all the ministers of the church since its beginning.
| Name | YEAR | ||
| J.W. Bennett | 1883-84 | ||
| G.M. Johnston | 1885-86 | ||
| J.M. Romans | 1887-88 | ||
| J.B. Davis | 1889 | ||
| P.S. Sutton | 1890 | ||
| J.D. Akers | 1891-92 | ||
| J.W. Rader | 1893-95 | ||
| G.M. Johnston | 1896 | ||
| J.E. Bruce | 1897-98 | ||
| J.B. Simpson | 1899, 1901-2 | ||
| J.H. Honaker | 1900,1907-15 | ||
| P.D. Bratton | 1916-17 | ||
| C.N. Kennedy | 1918 | ||
| J.C. Spurlin | 1919 | ||
| H.S. Hutsell | 1920-21 | ||
| D.F. Wyrick | 1922 | ||
| H.L. Dean | 1923-27 | ||
| J.E. Davis | 1928-29 | ||
| J.R. Belcher | 1930-34 | ||
| C.F. Lundy | 1935-36 | ||
| Neil McKinnan | 1937 | ||
| J.B. Staley | 1938-42 | ||
| Howard Miller | 1943-45 | ||
| D.E. Workman | 1946 | ||
| John Collins | 1947-48 | ||
| Ray C. Linthieum | 1949-51 | ||
| James R. Cottrell | 1951-53 | ||
| Lloyd Stidom | 1954-55 | ||
| Luther Marks | 1956 | ||
| James Brown | 1957 | ||
| Andy Roe | 1958-59 | ||
| Robert Osborne | 1960-62 | ||
| Argel Payne | 1963-65 | ||
| William Daugherty | 1966-67 | ||
| Warren G. Friend | 1968-69 | ||
| Dewey Lacy | 1970 | ||
| D. Homer Stewart | 1971 | ||
| Allen H. Parrish | 1972-74 | ||
| J.D. Clark | 1975-76 | ||
| Fred F. Wyatt | 1977-78 | ||
| Fred Cooke | 1979-81 | ||
| Elizabeth S. Smith | 1982 | ||
| Joe Robenette | 1983 | ||
| Hollie Shrewsbury | 1984-85 | ||
| Rick Duncan | 1986-92 | ||
| D. Homer Stewart | June 1992-95 | Second time as Pastor | |
| Earle Arthur | June 1995-96 | ||
| David Ratcliff | June 1996-Present |
As Far as I can remember(80's - 90's)
Please contact me by E-Mail if You know of some missing names. I want names from the beginning of the church to the present time
Warner and Kate Neal, Otis Martin, Sam and Virginia Zeoli, Ralph and Elizabeth Hall, June and Chester Foy, Johnny and Linda Bucchi, Randolf and Macil Quillian and Family, Pat Honaker, Joseph J. Honaker Jr., Mrs Virginia Faw, Elizabeth Lester, Margie Wolfe, Mrs. Lenna Mcmillan, Glenn and Helen Lester, Shelby Neal, Jim, Pauline, Micheal and Melissa Mitchell, Tommy and Eula Shrewsbury and Family, Marshall Hedrick, Alvin and Rosalee Hedrick, Jesse and Gladys Harless, Robert and Marie Vawter, Ruth Foy, Everett and Barbera Beggs, William and Atwith Bailey, Betty and Jack White, Nellie and C.C. Cravens, Ann and Steve McWilliams, Christy Quillian, Leta Perkins, Mrs Georgia Hurst, Lelia Peterson, Jim and Irene Woods, Nannie and Charlie Hawks, Kate Underwood .... more to come.
 |
 |
 |
 |
Did I Miss Something? Is there an error? If You have information that needs to be on this page please email me at pathonaker@frontiernet.net or click on the mailbox below.
It's much easier to e-mail me information. I am truly sorry for all omissions. I put up the page to put the church in Cyber Space. I take full responsibility for the information on this page. I am also always updating the page, so new stuff will be added periodically.