Carrollton

United Methodist Church

Open Hearts, Open Doors, Open Minds

Our History

When our church began in the early 1870s, it was part of a rural village on the outskirts of New Orleans. As the city has grown around it, Carrollton UMC continues to serve as a place of grace for the spreading of the Gospel.

The church started as a Sunday school class for German immigrants in the home of one of the early settlers of Carrollton, Mr. Joseph Ahten. Lessons were held in German.

As the school outgrew his home, Mr. Ahten looked for a prominent place for a preaching house. He found it at the intersection of Carrollton Avenue and what has become Freret Street. Since the 1880s Carrollton UMC has been nestled beneath the oaks on the avenue. As the church reached out to English speakers in the neighborhood, it became an even more vibrant home of a community for faith.

Among the founders of Carrollton UMC was Reverend Beverly Carradine, an ancestor of the Carradine acting family. Franklin Parker, the longtime dean of Candler Divinity School of Emory University, served as an early pastor. His brother, Franklin S. Parker followed him. Franklin S. Parker founded the Epworth League, the precursor to the current United Methodist Youth Fellowship.

 

Over the generations the church has continued its ministry of the Gospel. We look forward to a new generation of leaders carrying forward this legacy. Whatever the changes coming to the community, we will offer the Gospel to its people.