FRIENDSHIP CHURCH
BURLINGTON, NC
CHURCH HISTORY
Friendship Methodist Church was organized in 1834, in Fogleman’s Schoolhouse on land owned by George Fogleman, just a short distance from the present church.
The Church was organized because some families
found the distance to travel to Mt. Hermon Methodist
Protestant Church was too far.
Worship services were held in the schoolhouse for several
years, but it is unknown how long it was until the church was
moved to the present site. Jacob Isley donated a log building and Christian Isley granted permission to move the building to the present church location, which was on his property. In 1856, Christian Isley gave the trustees the deed to the church site. A new church was built and the log building was removed. Members of the 1856 church were from the Albright, Johnson, Tinnin, Isley,
Sharpe, Graves, and Garrett families.
In 1861, the Alamance Circuit was formed with eight
churches and one pastor serving all eight churches. The Mt
Hermon Circuit was spun-off from the Alamance Circuit in 1891 and consisted of Mt Hermon, Bellemont, Haw River and Friendship. Some years later, Cedar Cliff was added and Haw River Church transferred to a different circuit. This arrangement continued until 1954 when Friendship became a
self-supporting church and had a full-time pastor.
Early members of Friendship were buried at Mt. Hermon
Methodist and St. Paul Lutheran churches. The Friendship
cemetery was begun in 1881 with more land being donated
by Dr. H.M. Patterson in 1942 and then again by Dr. G.G.
Patterson in 1958.
A new church building was built in 1911 at a cost of $5,000.
The building was constructed of cement blocks that were
made on the church lot, using native sand. Much of the
labor to construct the building was provided by church
members. The new church had a large and beautiful stained
glass window in the front. The window was given by Joel
and Sarah Sharpe at a cost of $600, in memory of their only
child, Permelia Sharpe Keck. Brick Sunday School rooms
were added to the rear of the church in 1929. In 1947, the decision was made to remove the clear glass windows in the 1911 sanctuary and replace them with twelve stained glass windows in memorial to the early church families.
In 1950, Patterson Hall was built by Dr. H.M. Patterson and
Swana Patterson Hoffman on grounds adjoining the church lot.
The building was used for church and community events.
The unification of the Methodist Protestant and Methodist
Episcopal churches came about in 1939 and Friendship then
became known as Friendship Methodist Church. In 1968,
Friendship Methodist Church became Friendship United
Methodist Church with the unification of the Methodist
Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Churches. A new Sunday School building was added in 1962. The 1911
building was torn down and replaced with our present sanctuary in
1980 at a cost of approximately $300,000. Patterson Hall was replaced with a new Fellowship Hall in 2004.
Friendship United Methodist Church has had 10 church members enter the ministry since the church’s inception.
In 1878, Friendship also served as the local school, known first as Friendship Academy and then later in 1907 as Friendship High School. The school closed in 1927 and Friendship High School consolidated with E M Holt School.
