New Harmony United Methodist Church
1865 - Present
Seneca, South Carolina
In 1870, the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in America (CME) was organized and in 1956 officially adopted the name, Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1866, a movement began in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South to organize their Black members into an independent church, “for the purpose of organizing them into an entirely separate Church, thus enabling them to become their own guides and governors.” At the founding convention in 1870, two bishops from the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, consecrated two Black elders as the first bishops of the new church.
New Harmony United Methodist Church has transitioned throughout the decades with the continued changes that occurred within the Methodist denomination of the Protestant church in the United States. Its roots date back to 1865, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, with the founding of Trinity Methodist Church that started in a log cabin in Walhalla, South Carolina. Then, in 1872, one acre of land was purchased, and a new church was built. The original building remained until 2020 in Walhalla, South Carolina after being purchased Iglesia Bautista Bethel (Bethel Baptist Church). Records indicate that Trinity Methodist was the first church for African Americans in Walhalla, SC. It would later become a part of the Walhalla Charge with its sister church, John Wesley Methodist (Westminster) in the South Carolina Conference.
Image of Father J.R. Rosemond.
In 1876, St. James Methodist Episcopal Church (CME) began in a log cabin located near Mountain View Cemetery on North Fair Play Street in Seneca, SC. Founded by Father J.R. Rosemond, the original church name was Mazyck Chapel. In 1880, the church was moved to the present-day location and would later merge with two other churches to become New Harmony United Methodist Church. St. James Methodist Church became the site of the first NAACP meeting to be held in Oconee County after other churches in the county refused to allow the group to meet on their property in fear of retaliation from local Ku Klux Klan. St. James Methodist Church joined the United Methodist Church denomination in 1972 and became one of three churches that made up the Seneca Circuit in the South Carolina United Methodist Church Conference (John Wesley, St. James, and Trinity UMC). The circuit churches in the United Methodist Church are closely connected sharing the same pastor and holding a joint Charge Conference meeting annually.
Construction of St. James Methodist Church.
John Wesley Methodist Episcopal Church, the youngest of the three churches, was located in Westminster, South Carolina. Founded in 1896, it was located on the corner of Dickson and Green Streets in Westminster and originally was known as Gray’s Chapel. In 1900, the church purchased the land that would become its permanent home and built a new church naming it John Wesley Christian Methodist Episcopal where they continued to worship for sixty-six years. John Wesley was part of a two-church charge known as the Walhalla Charge with Trinity Methodist Episcopal in Walhalla. Records indicate that at some point in time during 1949 or 1950 when Bethel Colored Methodist Church (also in Westminster) closed, many of Bethel’s members began attending 4th Sunday services at John Wesley and later joined the church congregation. Then, in 1967, church members erected a new church a few feet away from the original building where worship services were held. In 1972, John Wesley Christian Methodist voted to become a member of the United Methodist denomination of churches and remained vital until its congregation merged with Trinity and St. James United Methodist Churches to become New Harmony United Methodist Church.
Noted pastors of New Harmony UMC are:
Bishop Joseph Bethea – first African American Bishop of the South Carolina Conference United Methodist Church (1988)
o Student Pastor for Walhalla Charge (John Wesley and Trinity Methodist Churches)
o Former Pastor for St. James Methodist Church
o Born in Dillon (Dillon County), SC
o Granted Order of the Palmetto (highest civilian honor granted by the Governor of South Carolina) in 1993
o Died March 12, 1995
Reverend Dr. Granville A. Hicks
o Pastor for Seneca Circuit United Methodist Church (St. James, John Wesley, and Trinity United Methodist churches)
o Graduated from Claflin College (University) in 1957
o Instrumental in creating programs to improve race relations, education, and leadership development in the South Carolina Conference United Methodist
o Eponym of the Granville Hicks Leadership Academy and the Granville Hicks Lecture Series in the South Carolina Conference United Methodist Church
o Born in Walhalla (Oconee County) South Carolina
