Editing First United Methodist Church

{{Infobox Church
|name=First United Methodist Church<br/>of Pensacola
|image=FirstUnitedMethodistChurch.jpg
|imagesize=288px
|caption=
|type=
|denomination=Methodist
|organized=[[December 7]], [[1821]]
|pastortitle=Senior Minister
|pastorname=Rev. Dr. [[Wesley H. Wachob]]
|location=6 East [[Wright Street]]
|previous_locations=NE corner<br/>[[Tarragona Street|Tarragona]] and [[Intendencia Street]]s<br/>NW corner<br/>[[Palafox Street|Palafox]] and [[Garden Street]]s
|website=[http://www.pensacolafirstchurch.com/ www.pensacolafirstchurch.com]
|mapcode=<googlemap version="0.9" lat="30.417221" lon="-87.215652" zoom="16" width="300" height="250">
30.417032, -87.215583
First Methodist Church
</googlemap>
}}
The '''First United Methodist Church''' or '''First Methodist Church''' is a historic church in Pensacola, currently located at 6 East [[Wright Street]].  The church's current pastor is the Reverend [[Wesley Wachob|Dr. Wesley H. Wachob]].

==History==
===The early church===
Spain, a Catholic nation, controlled Florida prior to [[1821]], and did not permit open congregations of [[Wikipedia:Protestantism|Protestantism]].  The transfer of Florida to the United States in [[1821]] opened the door for Protestant churches to establish a presence in Pensacola.

On [[December 7]] of that year, the Mississippi Conference of the Methodist Church, in session at Washington, Mississippi, established a mission to Pensacola; the Reverend Dr. [[Alexander Talley]] was appointed as the mission's first pastor.  Talley served for about a year before being relieved by Rev. [[Ashley Hewett]], who in turn was succeeded by Rev. Dr. [[Henry P. Cook]]. Without a permanent home, church services were held in public buildings as well as in a theatre.  The March 20, 1824 issue of the ''[[Pensacola Gazette]]'' mentions a service held at the courthouse.

Rev. Dr. Cook died of yellow fever in the fall of [[1825]], and was replaced by Rev. Dr. [[John R. Lambuth]], but Rev. Lambuth's tenure did not last long, for the mission was transferred to the South Carolina Methodist Conference in [[1826]].  It was during the service of the next pastor, Rev. Dr. [[Charles Hardy]], that the South Carolina conference approved funds for construction of a permanent home for the church.

===The first permanent home===
[[Image:FMC-first.jpg|thumb|left|120px|The first permanent church building]]
In [[1827]], a lot on the northeast corner of [[Tarragona Street|Tarragona]] and [[Intendencia Street]]s was purchased, and a permanent home for the church was built, with the first services held on [[June 22]], [[1828]].<ref>Hoskins, Frank W.  (1928).  ''[http://fulltext10.fcla.edu/DLData/WF/WF00000044/file14.pdf The History of Methodism in Pensacola, Florida: Its Rise and Progress]''.  Cokesbury Press.  p. 45.</ref>  Several months prior, on [[February 14]], [[1828]], Rev. [[Isaac Boring]] had been appointed to take over the church from Rev. Hardy; Rev. Boring arrived in Pensacola on [[March 12]] and sold his horse to Rev. Hardy for $100, so that Rev. Hardy would have transportation to his next destination.

Rev. [[Adam Wyrick]] took over in [[1829]]; he wrote of Pensacola: "... a most terribly ... wicked place. Can see little evidence of good being accomplished."  His successor, Rev. Dr. [[John W. Talley]], was the last pastor sent by the South Carolina conference; the Pensacola-Escambia mission was again transferred in 1831, this time to the Georgia conference, who sent as pastor Rev. [[P. C. Shelman]].  

This first church building suffered two fires and in [[1881]] the property was sold<ref>Hoskins, [http://fulltext10.fcla.edu/DLData/WF/WF00000044/file20.pdf p. 81].</ref> and the church constructed a new facility on the northwest corner of [[Palafox Street|Palafox]] and [[Garden Street]]s.

===Second building===
[[Image:FirstMethodistPalafox.jpg|thumb|left|The church's second home, at [[Palafox Street|Palafox]] and [[Garden Street]]s]]
Construction began on the new church building, a three-story Romanesque Revival structure, in the fall of [[1881]].  For the next two and a half years, the congregation was without a permanent home:
{{cquote|While without a church we worshipped in [[First Baptist Church|the Baptist church]] until we moved into [[Pou's Hall]] ... We worshipped there two years or more, paying $25 per month rent.  In the spring of [[1884]] we moved into the basement of [the new] church.|20px|20px|Mary Lucia Richards, "Methodism in Pensacola" <ref>Hoskins, [http://fulltext10.fcla.edu/DLData/WF/WF00000044/file20.pdf p. 81].</ref>}}

The building was completed in [[1890]].<ref>[http://www.flheritage.com/preservation/markers/markers.cfm?ID=escambia Escambia County]. Florida Historical Markers Progam. Retrieved 2008-12-19.</ref>  In [[1906]], the property was sold, and the church building demolished, to make way for the [[San Carlos Hotel]]; and the church thereafter moved to its current site on [[Wright Street]].

==Current facilities==
===The sanctuary===
[[Stephen Fagin Fulghum]] was chosen to build the new sanctuary; the cornerstone was laid on [[October 14]], [[1908]].  Services were held at [[Hannah Hall]] on [[Romana Street]] until the current building was completed in [[1910]].  The first service was held at the completed church on [[October 30]], [[1910]].

Between [[1997]]-[[1999|99]], the sanctuary was renovated;  its roof was replaced, its sandstone walls were cleaned with acid, and restoration work was carried out on its stained glass windows.  Due to damage from [[Hurricane Ivan]] in [[2004]], the sanctuary roof was once again replaced in [[2005]].

In [[2002]], a new pipe organ was dedicated; the organ is "the largest and most comprehensive pipe organ in [the] area with 73 ranks of pipes and weighing some 50,000 pounds. This organ consists of a four-manual and pedal ebony console, a solid white oak case plus 4,153 pipes."

===Other facilities===
In [[1951]], an Education Building was constructed. In [[1959]], the Chapel of the Good Shepherd was built in memory of [[W. C. Mackey]] and [[E. R. Malone]].  "The Ark", a youth activity center, opened in [[1980]], followed by [[The Wright Place]] in [[1983]].  A new administrative building was constructed between [[1988]]-[[1989|89]], linking the sanctuary to The Wright Place. In the early 1990s, the church acquired property on Wright Street from a bankrupt car dealership and transformed it into a seventy-car parking lot for its members.

In [[2000]], the Church purchased two buildings across Wright Street, which became their Youth Ministry Center and Outreach Ministry Center.  In [[2004]] as a result of the Church's "Build on the Dream" capital project, a new three-story lobby building was completed.  The lobby has connections to the sanctuary, library, Henry Roberts Activity Center, Wright Place, and the Education Building.

In [[2007]], the Church purchased the adjacent [[Scottish Rite Masonic Center]].

==Missions==
Several other area Methodist churches began as missions of First Methodist, including [[Gadsden Street United Methodist Church]], [[Cokesbury United Methodist Church]] and [[St. Andrew United Methodist Church]].

==Church leaders==
*Rev. Dr. [[Alexander Talley]] (1821-1822)
*Rev. [[Ashley Hewett]] (1823)
*Rev. Dr. [[Henry P. Cook]] (1824-1825)
*Rev. Dr. [[John R. Lambuth]] (1825-1826)
*Rev. Dr. [[Charles Hardy]] (1826-1828)
*Rev. [[Isaac Boring]] (1828)
*Rev. [[Adam Wyrick]] (1829)
*Rev. Dr. [[John W. Talley]] (1830)
*Rev. [[P. C. Shelman]] (1831)
*Rev. [[G. W. Collier]] (1832)
*Rev. [[C. B. DuBose]] (1879-1882)
*Rev. [[C. W. Gavin]]
*Rev. Dr. [[Henry Earle Roberts]] (retired June 2006)

==References==
<small>{{refbegin}}
*[http://www.pensacolafirstchurch.com/about.htm About First United Methodist Church]
*King, M. Luther. [http://www.friendsofpacelibrary.org/History/King%20History/ChurchesMethodist.htm "Church History of Santa Rosa County: Some Sketches of Methodism."] Friends of Pace Library. Retrieved on 2008-12-19.{{refend}}
{{reflist}}
</small>

[[Category:Downtown churches]]