Rooted here since 1860.

A place to gather

Bethel’s story began before there was a Bethel Methodist Church. In the years before the Civil War, Methodists worshiped at the old Concord Methodist Episcopal Church in Stockbridge. Among them was John Pennington Austin, who envisioned a congregation serving the Fairview community.

On October 1, 1860, Bethel Church was organized and property was deeded for the new congregation. Those first members established a place where families could worship God, grow in faith, care for one another, and serve their neighbors.

Worship beneath the trees

Bethel’s earliest services were held beneath a brush arbor near a spring on the property. There was no sanctuary yet—just people gathering for Scripture, prayer, preaching, and song. Circuit-riding preachers traveled to serve the congregation for its first decades.

Near the end of the Civil War, Bethel’s first church building was constructed. Another followed around 1870: the building we know today as the Chapel. Across Fairview Road, the cemetery became the resting place of generations of families connected to Bethel and the surrounding community.

From the beginning, Bethel’s story has been the story of people gathering in faith.

Each generation built on the last

After the era of circuit riders, Bethel shared pastors with neighboring Methodist congregations. In 1942, Bethel left the Stockbridge Circuit and became autonomous. From 1947 through 1977, students from Candler School of Theology at Emory University served as pastors.

In 1977, the Rev. Jim Moore became Bethel’s first full-time appointed pastor. As the congregation grew, its campus and ministries grew too. Spaces for worship, learning, fellowship, and service were developed by people who cared about those who would come after them.

Our Methodist heritage continues

Bethel was already more than a century old when The United Methodist Church formed in 1968. The congregation continued its ministry within the UMC for decades.

In 2024, Bethel joined the Congregational Methodist Church, continuing its Methodist heritage in a new denominational home. That same year, the congregation called Rev. Jim Hancock to serve as pastor. Across different seasons of ministry and different expressions of the Methodist family, our calling to worship God, proclaim Jesus Christ, and love our neighbors has remained.

The story is still being written

We treasure the Chapel where earlier generations worshiped and care for the place they entrusted to us. Today we continue investing in worship, children and families, Bible study, fellowship, and service in our community. Chapel Kids at Bethel welcomes young children, and Wednesday evenings bring neighbors together around food, family, and faith.

The people who gathered beneath a brush arbor in 1860 could not have known what Bethel would look like today. We believe they would recognize why we are here: to follow Jesus, grow in faith, love our neighbors, and welcome people home.

We’re grateful for the chapters before us. Now it’s our turn to write the next one faithfully.