General Information
The Woodside United Methodist Church is located in the southeastern portion of Springfield, Illinois, not far from Lake Springfield. Our congregation is part of the Great Rivers Conference of the United Methodist church and locally is a member of the Otterbein cluster of United Methodist Churches. Our pastor is the Rev. Jim Poole.
Mission
Woodside United Methodist Church shall be a Christian community which:
- invites persons to accept God's salvation in Christ Jesus and to join in the mission and ministry of United Methodist Christians.
- inspires, enables, and supports persons in their ministries of fostering peace, equality, justice, and stewardship of the environment, and provides to its constituency spiritual resources, professional leadership and a nurturing community of faithful disciples.
Early History
The following appeared in a church directory printed in the late 1960s; at the time the church membership was 791, and the property behind the church had been purchased but not yet developed. Prior to dedicating the building in 1952, the church met in the Laketown Civic Center, which is still used for local civic events.
Woodside Methodist Church was officially organized in May, 1950 after a census of Southlawn revealed a predominance of Methodists in this area.
The first minister assigned to Woodside was Rev. Robert G. Vessey, a student minister also was serving Jerome Methodist Church. Under his ministry the first class of members was received May 21, 1950. Seventeen persons were in this charter class and ten additional members were received into the Church that year.
In June, 1951 Rev. Morris Hanley was appointed minister of Jerome and Woodside Churches. During the two years he served here forty-four new members were added, and with financial assistance from the the Illinois Conference the first building program was begun. Most of the construction was done by the minister and members and friends of the church. The first service to be held in the sanctuary which now serves as our educational building was on Christmas Eve, 1952.
Rev. Chas. W. Johnson was appointed to Jerome and Woodside Methodist Churches in June, 1953, and in 1955 was assigned to serve only the growing Woodside Church.
In June of 1960 Rev Chester E. Sheldon was appointed to Woodside.
In June of 1964 Ralph and Martha Jasper were transferred from the Forrest Hill Church in Peoria to Woodside.