Center Circuit
Mt. Olivet United Methodist Church, 1803-2003
Rogers Church joined the Center Circuit in the Cheraw District from 1844 through 1846, when the Concord Circuit of the Lincolnton District was formed. The Center Circuit, one of the most prosperous and influential in the state, was formed in 1833 from part of the Montgomery Circuit, which had absorbed the old Rocky River Circuit in 1820. At first called the Yadkin Circuit, its bounds were described by the Reverend David Derrick, the first assigned minister, as "bounded on the East by the Peedee and Yadkin Rivers and on the west by the Cold Water Creek and on the North by the South line of Rowan County and on the South by Rocky River.
Reverend Derrick described those he found living in his area of work as primarily of the German Lutheran and German Reformed faiths, with "some few Baptists" and a "goodly number of Methodists." His work was richly blessed: he added 161 members to the Church the first year of his ministry. In 1834, Rev. Derrick was returned to the Circuit and added 111 members. In January of 1837, after an absence of two years, Rev. Derrick was returned to the Center Circuit with Rev. Abel Hoyle whom he described as a fine little man and a good Preacher for his experience." Derrick describes in his Diary that he met with a kind reception in the Cabarrus-Stanly area: Near two hundred souls were converted on the circuit this year and 230 admitted on trial. We built and finished six new churches which were all dedicated to God - and one commenced in Concord the county seat of Cabarrus, N. C. - I had hard work to obtain a lot and get the house started but God was on our side and holp us to him be all the Glory. The church he founded by preaching in the Courthouse was Central United Methodist Church which opened its doors in 1838 as Concord Methodist Church. Reverend Derrick's hard work again bore fruit when Mount Pleasant Methodist Church was organized in 1848. The formation of Union Methodist Church to serve the Hileman's Mill Community in 1833 was also probably a direct result of Derrick's preaching. Another of the Concord area churches which may trace its beginnings to the revivals in the meeting grounds in Concord is Rocky Ridge Methodist, organized in 1842. The formation of St. Paul's Methodist Church in 1855 on what is now Highway 200 in eastern Cabarrus County completed the antebellum development of Methodism in Cabarrus County.
Severe weather in early 1856 prevented Reverend Jacob L. Shuford from keeping all his appointments on the Concord Circuit of the Charlotte District. He ran a notice in the Concord Gazette on 12 February 1856 setting out the churches on the circuit and the times he expected to preach there. Appointments included: Concord, Union, Rogers, Mount Pleasant, Emory, Gold Hill, Mount Moriah, Love’s Chapel, Asberry [Asbury], and Smith’s School House.
Thus, by the beginning of the Civil War Era, there were ten Methodist congregations serving the Cabarrus County area. Bethel, Bethpage, Mt. Olivet, Concord [Central], Rocky Ridge, Mt. Pleasant, and St. Paul's, are still active; Union Church merged with St. Matthews in 1888 to form Mt. Carmel Methodist, located on the Old Concord-Salisbury Road. In 1867, Mt. Moriah and Asbury united to form Center Grove Church on Highway 200 near the Stanly County line.
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