Fayetteville 'church on the hill' on Ramsey Street celebrates 175 years
Last fall, a fire broke out in apartments near St. Andrews United Methodist Church off Ramsey Street in north Fayetteville.
It was a Sunday morning, and church members could see the situation unfold. They helped the family that had been displaced, led in the effort by longtime member Janet Adams.
Pastor Scott Foster said: “That was personal to Janet.”
Adams explains that when she was younger, she lost all of her possessions in a fire.
She also knew she could count on her church family to work alongside her in assisting the displaced family that fall Sunday morning. It is that kind of congregation, said Adams, a member who first joined in 1980.
“I moved to Fayetteville and kept seeing this church on the hill,” she said. She finally tried out St. Andrews one Sunday with her then-young son. She remembers vividly the kindness of the Sunday School superintendent.
“It was so warm,” she said. “It has always been welcome to everybody.”
Church on the hill
That church on the hill will celebrate its 175th anniversary this Sunday. St. Andrews sits just northeast of perpetually growing Methodist University and is part of an increasingly crowded corridor. But there was a time when St. Andrews was one of the few major structures on Ramsey, tucked into pine trees and reachable through a wide, sandy path.
The members who formed the first church originally met in the old Long Hill school, according to an official church history. The church was chartered on April 28, 1849 — Sunday will be 175 years to the very day.
As for the church's name, the official history says: “No explanation can be given for the origin of the name ‘St. Andrews,’ except for the traditionally strong Scottish Highlander influence along the Cape Fear River valley.”
What is planned for Sunday?
The church will combine its two morning services into one at 10 a.m. A choir comprising members of the church’s preschool academy will sing a song the children have been rehearsing in chapel, “Everyone Praise the Lord.”
Afterward, members will share in a potluck — as is the Methodist way. Adams, who heads the anniversary committee, said a cookbook with church members’ recipes is being put together and will be available for public sale in the fall.
Teddy bears
The church’s outreach programs to its neighbors include Adopt-A-Dorm at Methodist University (Weaver Hall); Community Food Truck rodeos; food drives; book drives for local elementary school students; and Thursday night Bingo.
St. Andrews also operates Mikayla’s Teddy Bear Ministry.
“We ask the kids to bring in Teddy bears to the church,” said Nicole Edson, head of the children’s ministry. “They are prayed over, we attach a little tag to them, and then the children help pass them out to people in need of God's love. So they go to children and hospitals. They went out during the pandemic for kids who were affected by COVID.
“They've gone out to elementary schools who have had a child that passed away. They've gone out in disaster relief efforts. And that was started in memory of a child that attended church here who passed away at a very young age.”
Living history
The church’s oldest member is Louise Mills, who is 96. There are many longtime members, to include Phillip Gilmore, a third-generation member who appears with other members on a 175th anniversary video. Among memories he shares is learning the skill of ushering from older members who are now deceased.
“It’s good to be part of a church that’s been through so much,” he says on the video. “The church was started before the Civil War, and we’re still here.”
Opinion Editor Myron B. Pitts can be reached at mpitts@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3559.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: 175 years young: Fayetteville church keeps spirit of helping community
