About Us

Our Mission: To worship, witness, follow and serve Jesus Christ as Lord.

Our Vision: Christ in us; God's glory manifested!

Visit Concord's Five Year Look - Ahead : Revised 4/28/2025

Concord Methodist Church was established in 1815 and was originally part of the  Virginia Conference. The site for the church was donated by William Trotter, whose home place  was most recently occupied by Miss Elizabeth Thompson and Miss Daisy Thompson. Some of  the pioneer members of the newly established church were William Trotter, Samuel Winstead,  Washington Jeffreys, Daniel Sergeant, Britton Wagstaff and William Royster. Before the  construction of the church, services were held at the home of William Trotter. The first church  was a log building and the original 2 ¼ acres of property where the log church was located was  sold to the church in 1824 by Mr. Trotter for $8. During the 42 years of the original log church’s  use, there were 32 pastors who served the charge.  

In 1857, the log structure was torn down and a new wood frame church was built on the  same spot. This new church was used for approximately 50 years and served by 20 different  pastors. There were approximately 130 members on the roll in 1894 during Rev. M.H. Tuttle’s  pastorate. 

Over time the wood framed church began to show signs of age. In the minutes of a  quarterly report, Rev. J.A. Hornaday spoke of the church as being “very shabby looking, very  uncomfortable and much out of line and in keeping with the people who worshipped there.” A  new church was badly needed. On July 1, 1908 a building committee met and decided to build an  up-to-date church costing $3000. The contract was awarded to R.I. Paylor and construction  began at once. The main structure and the left wing of the new church were completed that same  year. The left wing was used as the Epsworth League Room (The young people’s organization)  and later was made into three Sunday school classrooms. The old wood frame church building  built in 1857 was also moved across the highway in 1908 and used as a store until it burned  down. 

In 1950-51, the education building was added. It consisted of a recreational room  (fellowship hall), a kitchen, three classrooms and two baths. With the Lord’s help and the  cooperation of the members, the project was completed and a dedication service was held on  September 20, 1953 by Rev. E.L. Hillman, District Superintendent, and Rev. M.C. Henderson,  Pastor. In 1981, three new classrooms were constructed in the basement of this addition. 

In 1997, a new building project was undertaken to renovate the Sanctuary and two  classrooms in the right wing. Additionally, new classrooms, choir room, bathrooms and storage  space were added as a two-story addition to the back of the left wing. The project was  spearheaded by Tommy Wagstaff, along with a newly formed building committee at an  estimated cost of $465,000. The contract was awarded to Jeff Oliver and Cleve Wagstaff as a  general contractor. The Sanctuary renovations were completed in 1997 and a dedication service  and ground-breaking ceremony were held on September 14, 1997. Construction was completed  in late 1998. 

In the fall of 2000, another addition was started to create a commercial kitchen and pantry  and to renovate the existing kitchen and convert it into a conference room. This work was  completed, along with additional renovations to the fellowship hall, in 2002 at a cost of  $165,000. Cleve Wagstaff and Karen Mathis co-chaired the building committee and the addition  was formally dedicated in memory of Robert Morton on May 4, 2003. 

On September 19, 2010 the church celebrated the donation of an additional 2 ¾ acres of  property by the John H. Wagstaff family and the Lindsay T. Wagstaff Jr. family. In late fall of  2010, two new parking lots were graded and paved and the entire church grounds were  landscaped for $98,952. In the fall of 2011, the church added a large picnic shelter and  commercial playground. These were constructed in memory of Rachel Carr who’s generous  bequeath to the church made their construction possible. 

On March 5, 2012, the church launched the Cemetery Wall Project which not only  replaced the existing cemetery wall but significantly expanded the cemetery space to meet the  needs of the church for the future. Under the leadership of Tommy Wagstaff, a Cemetery  Subcommittee completed the project on June 15, 2012, at a cost of approximately $125,000 and  the excess funds raised were deposited into the Cemetery Trust Fund. 

On May 15, 2017, the sanctuary underwent a renovation project to replace the ceiling  tiles, new carpet, expansion of the pulpit, as well as new paint. Additionally, the lighting was  upgraded over the choir and organ areas, new lights were installed in both vestibule areas, and  the front doors were sanded and re-varnished. The project was completed, and the first service  was held in the renovated sanctuary on July 16, 2017. The total cost of the project was  approximately $40,000. 

The decade beginning in 2020 presented several unique challenges and opportunities. In  March 2020 the world experienced the COVID pandemic with a death count of over 7 million globally. In-person worship services were cancelled, which had a detrimental impact on churches  everywhere. Concord began distributing recorded services and ultimately began outdoor services  underneath the magnificent oak in front of the church. God provided excellent weather, and the  services grew in popularity and provided a great public witness. Even with this tremendous  challenge, a called Charge conference was held on September 9, 2020, with District  Superintendent Mike Frese presiding, to discuss a building expansion program. The project,  adding approximately 4,300 additional square feet, was unanimously approved at a cost not to  exceed $762,300, plus necessary furnishings and equipment. The general contractor, Legacy  Builders, was selected. Groundbreaking took place shortly after with Cecil Barker, Cleve  Wagstaff, Ernie Carver, Marvin Morris, Bayard Crumpton, Elizabeth Carver (Trustee Chair) and  the Kyle Crumpton family participating. The construction was completed in late 2021 at a cost of  $784,926. A special service was held on March 27, 2022 to burn the note! 

The second significant challenge dealt with a theological shift within the United  Methodist Church; primarily in America. Concord Church had recognized this shift in theology  as early as 2014 and had begun preparing the congregation for the potential consequences which  came to a head at a special called UMC General Conference in 2019. On August 7, 2022, District  Superintendent Rev. Mike Frese led a called Church Conference at Concord to consider and vote on disaffiliation from The United Methodist Church. The vote was 107 to 3 in favor of  disaffiliation and a unanimous vote to join the Global Methodist Church. Because of the number  of churches desiring disaffiliation, the North Carolina Conference of the UMC held a special  called Annual Conference on November 19, 2022, to vote on disaffiliation which passed by a  vote of 957 to 165. A provisional conference of the Global Methodist Church was officially  formed in December 2022 and Concord Church officially became a Global Methodist Church on  January 1, 2023. The NC Provisional Conference of the Global Methodist Church, which  included the entire state of NC and over 400 churches, held its convening annual conference on  October 5-7, 2023, and the Global Methodist Church held its convening General Conference on  September 19-26, 2024, in Costa Rica to become an official global denomination. 

Another opportunity for building expansion came in late 2023. Relatively new members,  Mike and Rebecca Rowland proposed that we start a Wednesday night fellowship meal in the  fellowship hall to promote Concord’s connection to the community. It was a great success, and it  was soon recognized that the kitchen needed to be upgraded to accommodate cooking for large  gatherings. The project was started and completed in 2024 at a cost of $107,548. A special  thanks to Cleve Wagstaff and Thomas Carver (Trustee Chair) for their leadership in completing  this project. 

Since the time of construction of the current church sanctuary (approximately 118 years  ago), an additional 27 ministers have served this church. Presently the Staff-Parish Relations Committee is working to find a new pastor to fill Rev. Tom Newman's position due to his recent appointment to First Church, Mt. Holly. In September of 2012, the church hired its first Children/Youth Pastor, and  has continued to maintain this important role (Currently Youth Director). In 2022 the church  hired its first Communication Specialist, and in 2024 divided the role of youth and children’s  ministry and hired its first Children’s Ministry Director.  

Concord has been blessed to have two outstanding retired pastors serve in the Pastor  Emeritus role during its history. Rev. Billy Carden served as pastor of Oak Grove and Concord  from 1964 to 1969, and as Pastor Emeritus for Concord from 2004 to 2013. The Rev. Tom  Holtsclaw served Concord from 1973 to 1979, and as Pastor Emeritus from 2011 to 2015. Their  leadership was invaluable. Since their passing, a three-panel stained glass window above the  chancel was offered by Jan Holtsclaw and family in memory of Tom and was dedicated on  December 18, 2016. Also, the classroom where Billy Carden taught Sunday school was  converted into a library with his books donated by his daughter Lisa Elliott, and dedicated as the  Billy Carden Library on May 12, 2019. Most recently, Rev. Karl Neuschaefer was named Pastor  Emeritus for his service to Concord since 2009.