What the heck is the Epworth League?

The folks from the Polk County Historical Society recently came across a book entitled "Epworth League Secretary's Book" which originally belonged to the Eau Gallie Chapter of that organization and contains entries dating from 1929. Since Eau Gallie is obviously not in Polk County they graciously donated it to the Eau Gallie Public Library who then passed it on to us for safekeeping. 

The Cover

That said my first question was, "What the heck is the Epworth League?" While it sounds like it should be an organization made up of super heroes, it is actually a religious group of Methodist young people, between the ages of 18 and 35. It was founded in 1889 at Cleveland Ohio and named after John  and Charles Wesley's birthplace Epworth, Lincolnshire, England. Their mission is to encourage and cultivate Christ-centered character in young adults around the world through community building, missions, and spiritual growth and to my surprise it is still active today as a global organization with local church based chapters! Although it doesn't state anywhere in the book, the list of members below and other clues lead me to believe that the group was associated with St. Paul's United Methodist Church located on Highland Avenue in the Eau Gallie section of Melbourne. Unfortunately the historic sanctuary that was completed in 1902, which these members would have attended, burned down on August 6, 1965. However, the church was rebuilt and still serves the community today. The list of members below contains many familiar pioneer names such as Wickham, Creel, Roesch and Karrick.   

List of Members

The book also includes some clues as to what the group was involved with in the area. There were reports for four main areas of interest which were: Spiritual Work, Department of World Evangelism, Department of Social Service and Department of Recreation and Culture. These topics included things like Bible Study, missionary work, helping the sick and needy, citizenship, socials and recreation and even work done on an anti-cigarette campaign. 

January Minutes for 1929

Anyway, if you didn't already know, we now know what the Epworth League is and we have yet another interesting bit of history that has returned to the area!!

First Congregational Church of Melbourne to Receive Historical Marker

This Friday beginning at 4pm the First Congregational Church of Melbourne, now known as His Place Ministries, located at the corner of Harbor City Blvd. and Strawbridge will host a program to celebrate the installation of a historic marker naming the church as a Florida Heritage Site.

Although meetings and bible studies had been held since 1887, on December 6, 1889 the five men and seven women listed below became charter members by signing the covenant, which was the first step in creating the church.

Mr. Edward P. Branch            Mrs. John H. Phillips

Mrs. Abbie S. Branch              Mrs. A. O. Phillips

Mr. John R. Lyman                 Mr. Grant Sherbon

Mrs. Harriet M. Lyman           Mrs. Amanda Thomas

Miss Cordelia March              Mrs. Mable Nash Stewart

Dr. A. E. Lyman                      Mr. Louis Lyman

In 1892 the memebers signed a contract with Mr. R. J. Anderson for the construction of the church which ultimately cost $2,442.12. Worship service in the sanctuary began in July of 1893 and by the time the dedication ceremony was held on March 18, 1894 the bills pertaining to the new building had all been paid off! As you can see from this photo from the early 1900s the building that emerged from this construction was a white clapboard structure with a steeply pitched gabled roof with a three story bell tower on the east side.

The church continued to grow over the years attracting local members as well as numerous winter visitors. Its location on a major road and near the tourist hotels and railroad station attracted so many people that the church was sometimes referred to as the "Tourist Church" and "The Wayside Church." New pews were added in 1911 and wiring for electricity was added in 1915.


The Florida land boom of the 1920's added more members and visitors to the church as well as additions to all four sides of the structure in the popular Mediterranean Revival style of the day. This construction was being completed as the economy crashed in 1929. While membership dwindled throughout the depression the church's prospects were brightened with the construction of the Melbourne and  Bananna River Naval Stations in the 1940s and the coming of the Space Program. This increased membersip also led to the last major expansion of the structure with the addition of an education annex of 3,900 square feet, stained glass windows and the installation of air conditioning.

Circa 1930s

An ever growing Congregation led to the purchase of land in Palm Bay for the construction of a new church building and the original building was sold in 2000 to a new and promising congregation called His Place Ministries, thereby solidifying its physical and spiritual use to the present day.

Special Thanks to Brevard Historical Commissioner Ann Downing for her research on the church's history and for putting together the application that made this marker possible.