Newtown United Methodist Church
3546 Church Street
Newtown, Ohio 45244
PASTOR: Rev. Kevin Patton
Phone: (513) 561-6678
E-Mail: Revkev40@aol.com
Newtown UMC, the church with the big heart in the heart of Newtown reaching out and sharing the love of Christ to meet the needs of people where they are.
OUR GOALS
1) Enable better communication and a sense of Christian community so that we know each other better spiritually and can enjoy a richer fellowship.
2) Reach out to community to help them with physical and spiritual needs.
3) Reach out to visitors and inactives.
OUR HISTORY
The Newtown United Methodist Church has a long and rich history. It had its beginnings in 1798 when the village was called Mercersburg. Rev. John Kobler, a presiding elder of the district at that time made the first attempt at starting a church here. The district at that time took in half of the unbroken wilds of Kentucky. In the same year, Rev. Phillip Gatch, from New Jersey, rented a log house in the town and preached here regularly. He later moved to what is now South Milford.
In 1800 circuits of the Methodist church were established in the area and Mercersburg changed its name to Newtown. By 1813 there were enough Methodists here to build a stone building. Rev. Aaron Burdsal was the fist pastor in the stone church. The church was called the Newtown Methodist Episcopal Church.
In 1867 the stones of the original building were used to construct the first floor of the present church and a second floor was added to double its efficiency. The first record of the Sunday School was found in the Conference Year Book of 1869. The parsonage next door to the church was built in 1895. In the 1950s a new addition to the rear of the church was built in two phases. A 2-car garage was also built for the parsonage.
A church is far more than stone and mortar. A church is truly the people. Over these 200 years that the Newtown United Methodist Church has existed, its membership has served each other and the large community in many ways. A church choir began in 1909 and continues to serve the church with songs of praise to this day. In 1933 the church even had an orchestra which played for services and programs here and traveled to other churches, as well. Unfortunately, the orchestra no longer exists.
Christian Education and fellowship have been a rich part of the ministry at Newtown. The Sunday School, United Methodist Men, United Methodist Women, and United Methodist Youth have all found a place in the Newtown Church at various times offering a variety of activities to benefit the church and the community.
We continue to this day to do our best to serve our members and the community around us. Currently we have members who go to the Cincinnati City Gospel Mission to serve meals to the hungry and homeless. Throughout the year our members make school kits, and health kits for the Festival of Sharing sponsored by our West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church. All of this goes to alleviate world hunger. We cooperate locally with the other churches in town in operating a food pantry and have been the red cross base during times of flooding in our community. In these ways and more, we try to extend the hands and love of Christ to others.
OTHER GROUPS USING OUR CHURCH ON A REGULAR BASIS
Boy Scouts (Troop 277)
meet every Monday evening at 7 p.m. in the kitchen & fellowship hall usually. Scout Master: Mr. David Jones 513-231-4669
New Hope AA Group
meets every Thursday (including holidays) 8 - 10 p.m. They use the kitchen and fellowship hall. Contact Person: James S. Watkins 513-683-4707
Newtown Initiative
meets the first Tuesday of each month 7:30 p.m. They use the kitchen. Contact Person: Jane Kinley 513-231-4245
Newtown Senior Citizens
meet on most third Thursdays of each month 11:30 a.m. - 2 p.m. They use the kitchen and fellowship hall. Contact Person: Mavis Smith 513-561-5571
S.H.A.R.E.
meets the 4th Saturday of each month 9 - 10:30 a.m. in the kitchen. SHARE is a food co-op program offering $35 - $50 worth of groceries in exchange for $15 and 2 hours of community service work each month Contact Person: Becky Tippitt 513-735-0330