From Circuit Riders and Camp Meetings to the Church Today

Born in the spirit of the old Camp Meetings at McWhorters, nurtured in the love and care of Pleasant Grove, our mother church, established and sustained by the affections and dedicated efforts of generations past, Mineral Springs Methodist Church stands today as a beacon on a hill, pointing the way to Jesus Christ to all who come within the sphere of its continuing and expanding influence.

The story of our church does not have its beginning here in the village, but rather on a deserted hilltop a few miles away. It was there, at McWhorters Meeting House and Camp Meeting, that our roots were first planted, in 1787, as those hardy mostly Scotch Irish immigrants established the Methodist faith for the first time in what is now Union County.

Credit rests upon the supreme dedication of a band of men known as “circuit riders.” Called by God, they went out in the face of the post Revolution spiritual decline to fashion a new nation in the image of God and to “spread scriptural holiness throughout the land.” It eventually was a circuit of 24 “preaching places” stretching from Providence on the north side to just short of Camden on the south. Services were held whenever the circuit rider and horse could arrive on the scene.

From those beginnings, this church was formed, and has grown in grace and size to meet the needs of families today.

To read the entire history of this church, download “Through the Years – The Story of Mineral Springs Methodist Church”