First Integrated Church

First Integrated Church. All Inclusive Church. , The church directly to your front is Manor Memorial Methodist Church, which became the first integrated church in Shenandoah County in 1965., The original first Methodist Church in New Market was a log structure built on Lee Street around 1831. In 1861, the first year of the Civil War, the congregation opened a new wooden church here and purchased a bell that still rings today. A new cupola, stained glass windows, and frescoes were added in 1898., When the church was remodeled (with a new brick veneer) and an educational building was added in 1931, the church was renamed Manor Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church South (and the education building Manor Hall) in honor of Annie Manor, who devoted considerable time, energy, and money to the church., Asbury Memorial Methodist Church , After the Civil War, an African American Methodist congregation was formed in New Market. The congregation opened a church, Asbury Methodist, on Cadet Road in 1873. The new church, which was a "white clapboard structure with a belfry" that could seat 100 people, soon became a center of the town's African American community., A 1954 newspaper article about the church told the story of a horse named Felix who would stick his head inside a church window during services. "A horse goes to church here every Sunday, except in cold weather," the article explained. "The horse is well behaved, doesn't make a noise, seems to enjoy the service and doesn't sleep during the sermons.", Merging and Integration , In 1965, with the African American population in the area declining, Asbury Methodist, along with Mt. Jackson Methodist Church, merged with Manor Memorial, becoming the first integrated church in New Market. The church proudly announced that it was now an “all inclusive church.", Today, the organ, pulpit chairs, and communion set that were used in Asbury Memorial Methodist Church have been preserved., Source: Much of this information comes from the Manor Memorial United Methodist Church’s history and “Shenandoah Stories,” a web-based project of the Shenandoah County Library., This marker has been made possible through the generosity of Manor Memorial Methodist Church., (captions) , The church about 1908, when it called the New Market M.E. Methodist Church., Felix the horse sticking his head through the church window during services. Standing at right is Royal Steptoe, the church's trustee and Sunday School superintendent. Steptoe, a veteran of World War 1, was the proprietor of New Market's oldest barber shop. Photo by Bill Garrard from the April 15, 1954, edition of the Shenandoah Valley newspaper. Courtesy Truban Archives, Shenandoah County Library.