OUR LEGACY FROM THE PAST - NCCUMC

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that he hoped to see a deeper commitment among the church
family. During Reverend Chambers' first year here, plans were
made by the women to paint both the church and the parsonage.
They also led a campaign that year to get the CHRISTIAN AD-
VOCATE into every home and to also begin plans for the publication
of a local church paper. In 1924,the church was enlarged by
the addition of double classrooms, one on each side at the rear of
the sanctuary. (These rooms were removed when the educational
building was begun in 1947.)Reverend Chambers served only one
year since he was forced to transfer to Tennessee on account of ill
health, but by the time he gave his last conference report, he
showed a much more positive attitude about the church, stating
that the spiritual state of the church had shown a marked increase.
He must have had a profound influence on the people,
since twenty-eight new members joined the church during the one
year he was here!
Reverend E. D. Dodd was sent to Williamston in 1923and he
stayed for two years. In one of his conference reports he stated
that "The Women's Missionary Society is very much alive in
Williamston. Cottage prayer meetings are held each week with a
remarkable attendance." During his last year here, however, he
became much concerned with the drop in attendance at church
during the summer months, and he is quoted as saying, "Attendance
at church is falling. Our people seem to like the watering
places and are off to the beaches!" He too, must have greatly influenced
the people of the town because he brought in sixty-one
new members during his two-year term.
O. P. Fitzgerald followed in 1926and stayed until 1928.Only
his few notes give us a clue about conditions in the church at that
time. He is quoted as saying,
"Methodism in Williamston has not seen her best days.
There have been bright eras and dark periods, but
Methodism continues to offer the love of Jesus, the
grace of God, and the hope of life to a troubled and
uncertain world. She stands today in the midst of need,
holding aloft the Gospel flag of the Son of God as a
beacon light for the wayfaring traveler to see and turn