History of St. Paul's UMC

According to historians, the nine original members of the Shawnee Methodist Church met under a brush arbor at the corner of Bell and Oakland Streets in the year 1895.  The following year a frame building was erected on that spot.

In 1901, the frame building was moved to the present location of St. Paul's United Methodist Church at Tenth and Beard Streets.  Seven years later a brick structure was built in place of the frame building, only to be torn down in 1918 for construction of a domed church.

By 1939, the unification of the three main branches of Methodism and the First Methodist Episcopal Church South became St. Paul's Methodist Church of Shawnee.  The need for a larger church school facilities became apparent after World War II.  The ground was broken for the building on September 28, 1952.

At the 1964 General Conference in Dallas, Texas, the Methodist church and the Evangelical United Brethren merged to make up the United Methodist Church.  It was at this time that our church became known as St. Paul's United Methodist Church of Shawnee.

On October 7, 1970, a tornado roared through downtown Shawnee lifting the dome of St. Paul's, turning it around, then dropping it back down, unfortunately, not on the church where it belonged.  The sanctuary was condemned and the church services were held in Fellowship Hall in the basement of the church building.

Construction began in March of 1972 on the new building.  Bishop Paul Milhouse led the consecration service for the building on January 14, 1973.  Today, St. Paul's United Methodist Church still occupies this building and plans are to add approximately 7000 square foot in the near future.

As of August 2003, construction of our new children's center began.  Each day there are new improvements and the congregation anxiously awaits the grand opening during the summer of 2004.

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