Milestone: Winfield marks 140 years
12-27-2008Winfield UMC, Little Rock, marked its 140th anniversary Dec. 7. The celebration included an early morning breakfast gathering, worship led by Bishop Charles N. Crutchfield and a churchwide luncheon.
The Winfield church was organized in 1858 by a group of Methodists, many of whom were members of the Little Rock Station church, now known as First United Methodist. The first pastor was Benjamin O. Davis.
The first church building was erected in 1871 at 12th and Spring streets. After several moves, the congregation settled at 16th and Louisiana and constructed large church building designed by noted architect Charles Thompson. The church name honors Augustus Winfield, the seventh minister of the congregation.
When the church was 45 years old, it was the first Methodist church in Arkansas to have a membership of 1,000. Membership eventually reached 3,000, and by 1948, Winfield was the largest Methodist Church in Arkansas. Among its pastors were Marshall T. Steel, who later served as president of Hendrix College, and Paul Galloway, who went on to be elected bishop and later served the Arkansas Area.
In 1988, the congregation relocated to west Little Rock, merged with the Mountain View church and built a new church building on Highway 10. The current pastor, David Bentley, is the 50th pastor to serve Winfield UMC.
