BETHANY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
Liberty, North Carolina
December 31, 2009
Dear Friends,
We have again attempted to put together some facts about our church. Much of the information in this booklet was also in the 1999 issue, but ten years have passed and we promised you an update. And we continue to learn.
One source of information was the pastors’ reports to Conference on what was going on in the church. Some of our pastors kept much better records than others, and the available records only go back to 1950.
We appreciate the write-ups that Mrs. Cora Williams had in the past, and we thank Mrs. Ada Williams for sharing a report that her son Doug wrote about Bethany when he was in Vacation Bible School in the early 1950s. Doug’s sources of information for his history of the church were Mrs. Fannie Troy (1884-1971), Mrs. Nora Williams (1889-1970), and Mrs. Mary Jane
Kivett (l873~1954).
We thank Mr. Guy Troy for sharing with us the minutes of the Troy Family Cemetery Improvement Committee of 1907.
We thank Ms. Francine H. Swaim for sharing information she has gathered about our church and cemetery.
We thank Archie and Faye Saunders for our cover photographs.
Thanks also go to Ms. Nancy Spain, of Commission on Archives and History, Western NC Conference-UMC, in Charlotte, and to Ms. Annette Harper, in the UMC Greensboro District Office. They added much to our earlier information on former pastors at Bethany.
There’s no way to be through with “History.” We would welcome any bit of knowledge, memorabilia, or old pictures that you may have of the church or its members, so that we can add to our collection here. Anything that you can share can be given to any of us at Bethany, or you can send to me at 2116 Huntington Road, Burlington, NC 27215, Telephone (336) 227-(hidden).
Sincerely,
DANNER FERGUSON
Chairman, Administrative Council
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