MONROE, N.C. — As Langford Chapel CME Church celebrates 100 years, some church members reminisce about the past and how the church continues to thrive after so many years.
On April 21 and 22, church members will celebrate the church reaching the centennial mark.
On April 21, Langford Chapel members plan to host a banquet at Wingate University's LaVerne Banquet Hall at 6 p.m. while on April 22, Senior Bishop Thomas Lanier Hoyt Jr., the presiding prelate of the Seventh Episcopal District, will be the guest speaker at the church's 10 a.m. service.
"It's changed quite a bit," Minnie Crowder, one of the church's oldest members, said in reference to the appearance of the church today compared to years ago.
The church's building, which currently sits at 113 South Johnson Street, was not the original site of the church but is close to where the original church stood. The building that holds Langford Chapel CME Church members today, was completed in 1935 after the original church burned down. She remembers attending the church as a child and the various members she got to know over the years. She also remembers having to attend worship services in the church's basement while the rest of it was still being built, she said.
"I was here when they dug the basement," she said.
Often in the afternoon, men from the community would come to work on completing the church while the community's women would provide them with meals as they worked. The church today has a number of modern conveniences such as central heat and air conditioning. She remembers people only having fans to use on hot days and how the church at one time had a potbelly stove, she said.
Historical records have documented that a group of people worshiped together under the leadership of Rev. E. Roberts in the Monroe area in the late 1870s and in 1912 the church was organized. Langford Chapel was founded by Rev. R.O. Langford. It's first church services were held in an old house in the Frog Pond (Poor House Hill) area, which is now known as the Walter Bickett Education Center on Lancaster Avenue. The church then moved to Jackson Street, which is now Johnson Street in the Quality Hills area of Monroe, according to a document about Langford Chapel CME Church history.
In September of 1989, Hurricane Hugo damaged the church's current building and for a period of time, church members relocated to Monroe Middle School for church services while the building was repaired. The repaired and renovated church was once again open to members in January of 1990, according to the document.
Many members of the church today said they have enjoyed being a part of it and look forward to what the future will bring for Langford Chapel CME Church.
"It (the church) was built on a Christian foundation and I'm glad to be part of it," Ruby Barnes, another life-long member of the church, said.
Her parents were members of the church and she's happy to be a member of it as well. For more than 40 years, she has sung in the church's choir, she said.
The church currently has around 176 members, Rev. Sandra H. Gripper, the church's pastor said.
She has been pastor of the church about 10 years and has enjoyed meeting the different people in the congregation and hearing stories from throughout the church's history from its members, she said.
"It's so rich in heritage here," she said.
The church's members are very close and caring. The church has an overall friendly atmosphere and its members are also very dedicated to their community, she said.
"It's a family church, the whole big church feels like a family," she said.
For more information about about Langford Chapel CME Church visit langfordchapel.org or call 704-289-4055.
Read more: The Enquirer Journal - Langford Chapel to celebrate centennial