The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in Imboden, Arkansas, was organized in 1884. The first minister to the parish was C.W. Roane. The Imboden Church was part of the Hoxie misson which included Hoxie, Portia, Black Rock, and Hopewell.
The charter membership was made up of thirteen women and one man.
The first church building was erected in 1895 on Second Street across from the first town hall. (a block west of the present building) The building was 40×60 with 15 foot ceilings.
Taken from a letter recieved from Mrs. J.C. Poindexter on January 7, 1952. “J.S. Sullivan, the only male member of the church , had to make great sacrifices and surmount difficulties to get the building up and comfortable to use. T.A. Bowen was the pastor. H.C. Skinner was the Presiding Elder.” Continued in the letter ” When W.M. Wilson came to work in November of 1898 , the membership was still small, one adult member had been added.”
The church gained sixty-seven members when at the close of 1899 a twenty four day revival was held.
In the spring of 1921, as the Reverend James F. Glover was finishing reading scriptures, Mr. Charlie Chambers entered the door and announced that the church was on fire. The announcement was accepted very camly . As the congregation left the burning building each person carried something of value to be saved from the flames. The men returned to carry out pews, the pulpit, lighting fixtures, the chancel railing, and the carpet from the choir loft and aisles. Even the windows where removed from their frames. At last the bell rope was cut , placed around the stove and it was dropped form the building. To answer the question of why didn’t the congregation extinguish the fire? There was no fire department in the town at the time and the nearest supply of water, a cistern, was a block away.
The Board of Trustees purchased the property on Main and Second from the Dwyer family and the construction of the new church began. It was completed in 1922.
The original glass windows in the church where changed to single paned stained glass in the 1940’s. The stained glass to the upper levels of the church was added in 1979.
The two story brick building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2004.
Through the years the Methodist church has served the community needs in both times of happiness and despair. The church is the distribution location for canned foods and gifts for families in need at Christmas time. The church is very supportive of three local mission projects: The Children’s Shelter at Walnut Ridge, the John 3:16 ministry for men with addictions at Charlotte (near Batesville), and Wayland Spring Church Camp at Imboden.
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*Historic content included from Edith Stovall’s writings on the Imboden United Methodist Church History. Thanks to Martha Johnson for sharing the wonderful old photographs and information. Thanks to included content concerning the National Historic Register provided by Rebecca Jones