About Us

The Methodist Church in Onley was founded in Locustville in 1891.  The building was dedicated on March 22, 1891, and was referred to as McMath Methodist Episcopal Church, South.  The church, like the town in which it was built, grew quickly, soon outdistancing more rural Locustville.  A Woman's Foreign Missionary Society was organized here in 1894, and the first parsonage was in use by 1898.  The congregation had the building painted in 1899, and a new parsonage was occupied in 1901.  In 1913 the old church was moved aside, and construction of a new one began on the same site.  Former governor A. J. Montague spoke at the laying of the cornerstone on October 21, 1913, and the building was dedicated when P. M. Hank was the pastor.  The original building burned in 1923.  In 1958 a new addition was added to the existing church, which housed Sunday School classes, kitchen facilities, and the social hall.  In 1977 the parsonage was relocated on Caroline Avenue.
 
Today Onley is a church of over 130 members and looks forward to growing with the community. 
 
The following pastors have served Onley United Methodist Church:
 
   James W. Moore
   Emmett Francis Garner
   Luther Francis Hitt
   Joseph Richard Griffith
   Adrain Lambreth Carson
   Rev. Jordan
   John David Hosier
   Philip Manning Hank
   Randolph Thornton Clark
   Charles Henley Williams
   Rev. Kline
   Dr. Stephen Alexander Donahoe
   John William Gee
   Rev. Laughan
   George William Way
   Henry Claiborne Gregory
   Harmon Leslie Hoffman
   W. A. Orser, 1936-40
   A. N. Lewis, 1941-45 +
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*Shared pastors with Greenbush from 1946-1994

   Roy Price, 1946-47
   Ben B. Bland, 1948-54
   E. B. Dean, 1954-1957
   Jerry M. John, 1958-61
   Aaron D. Smith, 1961-65
   Harold G. Thatch, 1965-66
   John A. Burnley, 1966-70
   W. Glenn Harris, 1970-71 +
   Harold N. Smith, April, June, 1971
   Ben W. Johnson, 1971-74
   Michael D. Payne, 1974-77
   Arthur W. Green, 1977-79
   Lee Bowers, 1979-82
   Clyde Weaver, 1982-86
   Clarence Bowen, 1986-94

   Michael D. Payne, 1994-95
   Gervais W. Meinzer, 1995-98
   Philip G. Godwin, 1998-2000
   Charles W. Parks, III, 2000-2019
   James "Jim" Canody, 2019-

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+ A. N. Lewis and W. Glenn Harris died while pastoring at Onley.