Southern Baptist Mission Church - New Melle, MO - Baptist Churches on Waymarking.com

County of church: St., Charles County
Location of church: Schutzen St., ½ block N. of MO-D, New Melle
Built: 1878
Methodist Church: 1878-1960
Baptist Church: 1960-1971
Private Residence: 1971 to present

"We now are in the process of de-consecrating the building for Methodist usage. It has been offered to our friends in the Baptist denomination who expect to buy it and begin a mission in New Melle. We expect to make a final and complete statement on the disposition of the building at the end of this history. All the sacramentals have been removed from the building, except the pulpit, the alter rail, the bell, and the corner stone.

"1960 -- Ninety-one years of church history is brought to and end in New Melle Methodism.

"CONCLUSION: These words are written on Thursday afternoon, May 12, 1960. The final pages are being turned in the history of the New Melle Methodist Church; the last sentences remain to be written. The last legal procedures are now being followed to sell the church to the Louisiana Divisional Mission Board, Southern Baptist Convention, for $1,000.00. A down payment has been made of $100.00. As soon as legal papers are ready the final $900.00 will be paid, and our Baptist friends will begin work in the New Melle community. ... " ~ Historic Document; The Peniel Methodist Church, New Melle, Missouri, 1869 -- 1960, by Theodore H. Wolf, 1960, pages 3, 15, 19

"Though the Methodist were an active congregation, they were never large in number. Seldom, if ever, did the congregation number 100 members. As years passed, children moved away, the older member were no longer able to attend services, and membership declined. As a result, in 1960 the New Melle Methodist Church was sold to the Louisiana Development Board, South Baptist Convention." ~ Augusta Defiance New Melle - 2014 Resident's & Visitors Guide, page 19