Wisemantown Methodist Church Irvine KY

Partnering with God in transforming people from the unbeliever to the fully devoted disciple of Jesus Christ for the the Glory of God.

Our church has a long standing history dating back over 100 years. Come visit us or tune into our radio broadcast on Sunday morning at 107.9FM. You can also find us on Facebook.

 

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In 1892, eighteen men and women founded the Wisemantown Methodist Episcopal Church South. The founders of the church were:

Sophia Wiseman C. H. Maupin Mollie Maupin Elizabeth Campbell Bell Noland Sophia Scott Emma Witt Mary Dosiar William Campbell Julie Campbell Mollie Elliott Bettie Cox Lena Cox John P. Miller William Dosiar John L. Dosiar Captain John Wilson Sarah Wilson

When the church was first formed, it did not meet in a church building but met in an old log schoolhouse. The log schoolhouse served as the center of worship for Wisemantown for three years. In the beginning, services were held at irregular intervals. This may have been due to the fact that the church was on the Irvine Circuit and was served by circuit rider ministers who faithfully rode their circuit. They would ride from church to church to share the gospel. When the circuit rider was not at the service, a lay preacher would preach. This meant that the church had different pastors each Sunday. In the early days, the church would gather for preaching at 11:00 a.m. and the services usually lasted for over an hour. The church would then dismiss for lunch. The members would eat together and return at approximately 2:30pm for Sunday School. After about 2 hours of Sunday School, church would be dismissed and people would go to their homes or visit within the community until 7:00pm Then it was time for evening services. The reason that everyone did not go home was because the pastor and most of the members lived too far away to go all the way home and return for services.

The church grew during those first few years and could no longer meet in the log schoolhouse after three years because the membership had outgrown it. It was decided to build a church. John P. Miller (1864-1919), a member of the church, offered to sell land for the church for the price of one dollar. Mr. Miller’s generosity was not surprising. He was the proprietor of the J. P. Miller General Merchandise Store in Wisemantown. He was a deeply religious man which can be witnessed by his own word in which he says, “In the year 1888, I was converted at a Masonic Altar in Irvine Lodge No. 137, F. & A. M. June 19th, I quit the use of tobacco. On July 22nd, I was sanctified-kept by the power of God. Glory to His name. My occupation to support a good wife, Flora E., the daughter of Dr. M. P. Scott, of Estill County, and eight obedient, loving children, Frank, Anna, Cecil, Lizzie, Scottie, Ruth, Glenn, and Coralie…My trademark is live and let live, so come and let us reason together that our lives may be long and prosperous on the land of Estill County and afterwards a home in heaven. Meet me there.’” The worship of God has been carried out in many ways down through the years. From the inception of the church, there were Sunday School classes. They were first started in the old log schoolhouse by J. P. Miller. When the new church was built, the classes were moved to the new building. There were four different classes: the Card Class, the Junior Class, the Intermediate Class, and the Adult Class.

The church has always had wonderful Sunday School teachers and the names of a few of the first ones were, Betty Cox, Pearl Hawkins, and Anna Witt. Although the church had a good attendance at the Sunday School classes, the offering was never more than one dollar. The Sunday School was appreciated by all those who were active in it. There was a joy in being at the Sunday School, which is witnessed in the old records of the Sunday School. On January 7, 1912, John P. Miller wrote these words, “The Wisemantown Sunday School met at the usual hour with a big snow on the ground but comfortable in the house of God. Song, Blessed (sic) Assurance was sung in great spirit.” The next Sunday, the weather was worse but the excitement of worship was not decreased in any way as it is written. “The second Sunday in the new year with a big eight inch snow on the ground. Temperature (sic) at 15 degrees below zero the school meets with pleasant faces to greet all graces of a blessed God.” While Sunday School was not the only thing going on at the church, most of the special activities were for the women and children. The women attended a monthly meeting called the Missionary Society. The first members of the group were Eunice Winn, Daisy Allen, and Rhea Cox. The Women’s Missionary Society lasted from 1920 through 1975. There have been many children’s groups throughout the years from singing groups to youth groups.

During the 1950’s Thomas Bonny, Sr. was the music director and created a church that became known for its music. One group in particular was a quartet made up of Virginia Witt Bonny (soprano), Emma Willard Witt (alto), Leon Witt (tenor) and Thomas Bonny (bass) who became well known throughout Estill County and beyond. Rhoda Winn Higginbotham, who was a musician and an accomplished pianist, was also instrumental in the development of the music program and continued as such for several decades. At one time, there were four members of the church who had Masters Degrees in music and who also served as music teachers in various school districts. In the 1950 and 1960’s, there was a strong Methodist Youth Fellowship (MYF) program, and the church began and sponsored a Boy Scout troop. The troop was started and flourished under the pastors, Rev. H.L. Patrick, and Rev. John Hickman.

In 1960, the church started the first meeting for the men which was called the Methodist Men. The men met the fourth Thursday of each month for a short message, devotion, and supper. The church has always been active in supporting those who were less fortunate. The Sunday School Record Book lists a collection for the “Orphan’s Home,” of 26₵ on April 30, 1911.

On March 31, 1918, Eunice Witt (Winn) recorded this, “Collection for orphan home $3.21. No. of eggs brought for orphan home 10 doz. and 9.” The church may not have been financially rich but they certainly gave what they had to help the less fortunate. The orphan home being mentioned is presently the Methodist Home of KY in Nicholasville, Kentucky and still supported by the church. As the years progressed, various church projects were completed. In 1928, the people in the church saw the need to remodel. The remodeling was performed by Turpin Lumber Company at a cost of $500.00. The sanctuary went through renovation at this time and was expanded. The pulpit was moved from the back of the sanctuary to where it stands today, which is midway in the south wall of the building. Three Sunday School rooms were also added to the outside walls of the church. The dedication program for the remodeling and expanded facility was June 30, 1929. The dedication message was delivered by Dr. W. L. Clarke, a noted preacher of the Kentucky Conference. Dinner on the ground was served at the Wiseman Sulphur and Chalybeate Springs. This was not the last time the church was remodeled and expanded.

In 1946, the church decided that a furnace was needed so that there would be even heat throughout the Sunday School rooms and sanctuary. There was also the need for more room for activities and Sunday School so the church constructed a basement underneath the present structure. In 1954, the church hired its first full-time pastor and the need for a parsonage. A three bedroom block parsonage was completed in 1956. The Women’s Missionary Society raised most of the money to pay for the parsonage. One of their projects to raise money was a patchwork quilt that they made with the blocks the size of $5 bills. People paid to have their name embroidered on the quilt blocks. A picture of the parsonage and pastors names were embroidered in the center of the quilt.

In 1959, the basement of the church was enlarged and two Sunday School rooms were added to the first floor on either side of the pulpit area. During this period of time, a man named Buck would sneak into the basement on cold nights, take down the curtains and wrap himself in them to help keep him warm. On one particularly cold winter night, Buck sneaked into the basement and set the curtains on fire. After that night, he never returned. More recently, the church has benefited by several remodeling projects. In the late 1960’s a lighted cross was added to the back of the pulpit area built by the pastor of the time, Rev. Homer Norman. In the late 1970’s, a bathroom was added to the first floor of the church. In November of 1988, the church started adding stained glass windows. This project was completed in February of 1990. In the fall of 1989, the United Methodist symbol of the “Cross and Flame” was displayed on the outside of our church. In 1990-91, an addition to the parsonage was completed consisting of a pastor’s study, family room, bedroom, bathroom, and additional basement space. In 2007, money in memory of Tara Elizabeth Bonny was donated by a multitude of people and it was used to remodel the kitchen and fellowship hall in the church basement in 2008-09. In 2009-11, the church was given, bought and exchanged adjacent properties, approximately 3.5 acres, and constructed a pavilion behind the church. The pavilion has proven to be a very valuable asset for the church, not only to the church itself but to the community as a whole. Several groups, not directly associated with the church, have used it for a multitude of activities. These include school groups, civic groups and other groups such as the local ministerial association and Gideons.

The church has come a long way from an old log schoolhouse building where P. J. Ross first served as pastor. At that time, Wisemantown was appointed to the Irvine Circuit. In 1910, the circuit was expanded to be the Irvine-Beattyville Circuit. Two years later, in 1912, Wisemantown was again a preaching point of the Irvine Circuit. Wisemantown remained on that circuit for the next four years. In 1917, the circuit was changed into the Estill Circuit which expanded the circuit to include other Methodist churches in the county. In 1921, the name of the circuit was changed to the Estill/Ravenna Circuit for one year then reverted to the Estill Circuit in 1922. 1923 brought a tremendous change for Wisemantown. It was at this time that the church came off of the circuit and became one-half of the West Irvine Charge. The West Irvine Charge consisted of Cedar Grove Methodist Church and Wisemantown Methodist Church. Wisemantown was on this charge until 1954. That year, Wisemantown and Cedar Grove split the charge and Wisemantown became a one point charge and Rev. H. L. Patrick was hired as the first full-time pastor. After a few years, the church had some difficult times and the funds were not there to continue to pay a full-time pastor. The church became a student appointment and Asbury Seminary students were appointed as pastors to the church. For twenty-five years, Wisemantown was served by student pastors. In 1986, the church made the decision to become a two-point charge with Ravenna United Methodist Church and a full time pastor, Rev. Raymond Snider, was appointed to serve the charge.

The two churches remained on a two-point charge until Ravenna was closed in 2006. In 2008, Wisemantown again joined with Cedar Grove United Methodist in a two-point charge until the fall of 2019. The church has had three different names in its history: Methodist Episcopal Church South, Methodist Church, and United Methodist Church. Wisemantown was the Methodist Episcopal Church South when it was formed. A name change occurred in 1939 when the north and south churches combined to form the Methodist Church. In 1968, the Methodist Church joined with the church of the United Brethren in Christ to form the United Methodist Church. Wisemantown has been performing ministry in the community since 1892 and it has many more hopes and dreams for the future of the church. The church created and adopted its mission statement in approximately 2012. Its mission is: To partner with God in transforming people from unbelievers to fully devoted disciples of Jesus Christ for the glory of God. The most important thing in the hearts of the people who love the church is that the spiritual life and the will to serve God will never die within the walls of the church and the hearts of its people. The church looks forward to continuing its service to our Almighty God.