History

Woodlawn United Methodist Church named Fagan Chapel at first in memory of Rev. R.L. Fagan came to be in 1859. The land was deeded over to the church in January 1859 for the price of $1.00. There was a contingency on the deeded property that the church remain a Methodist Church or the land would be remanded back to the Pruitt family. The first trustees of the church were J. Cutbertson, J. B. Halliard, W. G. Neblett, T. B. Pruitt, R. W. Blackwell, H. Hart, and A. J. Wood. The deed was notarized in 1872 and recorded in May of 1873.

Pastoral History

1800s

W.A. Leach 1880
T.E. Cullum 1881
W. Witcher 1883
R.P. Gannaway 1884
H.A. Allison 1885
W.G. Hensley 1887
G.M. Sanders 1888
J.M. Oakley 1890
B.W. Dodson 1893
W.G. Janett 1894
J.L. Chenault 1896

1900s

J.L. Teague 1900
J.A. Allison 1904
G.T. Camron 1905
P.G. Johnson 1907
W.F. Powers 1911
A.N. Doyle 1912
J.R. Reeves 1913
F.L. Hawkins 1915
R.R. Langston 1918
J.H. Whitfield 1920
O. Charles 1923
B.H. Brandon 1924
T.H. Coleman 1929
R.L. Benton 1931
E. Knowles 1932
J.O. Crawford 1933
F.L. Hawkins 1934
C. Smith 1937
C.M. Charles 1938
E. Walkup 1939
F. Royster 1941
J.C. Crow 1942
R.R. Miller 1945
L.T. Stubberfield 1945
S. Stine 1948
W. Wilder 1951
E. Crowe 1952
J.B. Choate 1953
J.A. Harris Jr. 1955
W.J. Holder 1957
J.H. Taylor 1960
M. Young 1962
J. Crocker 1963
A. Nelson 1967
W.J. Holder 1968
E. Felts 1971
R.L. Benton 1973
C. Beecher 1977
G. Sandford 1981
N. Weber 1986
J. Hicks 1988
J. Vaughan 1989
K. Paisley 1991
K. Edmondson 1998

2000s

K. Sherwood 2000
C. Talley 2008
R. Utley 2014
A. Po'e 2015
R. Wesley 2021
J. Fleck 2022

The building.

The first structure was constructed with logs and no ceiling. The church structure was used as a school during the week. This concept was called a subscription school. The parents of the children who attended would pay the fee of the subscription school to the teachers who in turn paid rent to the church. Most of the teachers at the school were women and their earnings were $1 per student each month. Typically the school operated for 3 months out of the year as the children were needed at home to tend to farm and harvesting chores.

The church was growing and membership increased until the beginning of the Civil War (1861-1865). There was great division in the church regarding the topic of slavery was a challenging time for most churches. After the conclusion of the war and the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, the descension seemed to decrease and the churches in the area began to flourish.

In 1868 a new building frame was constructed and the log building remained as the school. In 1887, Mr. F. Ewing deeded 10 acres to the trustees of the church and by 1897 the frame was razed and the present building was erected. James Norfleet and John Byrd gave of their time to build this building. The building was completed and Woodlawn Church dedicated on a sunny May Sunday morning in 1898.

In 1941, the establishment of Camp Campbell, later to become Fort Campbell, made a drastic change in the community of Woodlawn. Two of its sister churches, Asbury and Stamper's Chapel, were taken in by the camp and disbanded. Many homes were within the reservation area and families were forced to relocate. Some individuals settled in Woodlawn and made Woodlawn Church their home.

After World War II ended, the congregation grew and in 1950 Sunday school rooms were added to the what was the front of the church. Originally, what is now the back of the church was the front which faced Old Dover Road. Then the front was changed to what was the rear of the church. A concrete porch and a new entrance with double doors were built, facing the new highway. The pulpit was moved to the opposite end of the building and benches were turned around. One of the original two front door was walled in and the other serves as the entrance to the present fellowship hall.

A few years later, brick siding was added to the building and the old Sunday school rooms were replaced with the present fellowship hall. Bruce Caroland, a carpenter and father of Alden Caroland, built the present auditorium.