Early Days

<= st1:PlaceName w:st=3D"on">Olive Branch Methodist Church In 1888 the Olive Branch Meth= odist Church was organized, located in the Flackville community at 30th Street between Lafayette Road and G= uion Road (where muffler shop is now). Rev. Glenn Clark came to Olive Bra= nch from Iowa to serve during 1946 and 1947. T= he members of the Come-Join-Us class were the backbone of the church providing inspiration for the minister and funds to keep the church solvent during the mid-forties.

<= st1:PlaceName w:st=3D"on">St. Paul Methodist Church In 1876, Calvin G. Udell established a school and church services in the= north end of his factory. Later, th= ese services were transferred to the school house at the corner of Michigan Road and 30th Street= . A Union Sunday School was started = in this old frame school house in the summer of 1877. An outgrowth of this Sunday School was the St. Paul Methodist= Church. Before St. Paul had a building of its own the = Ladies Aid was organized in 1884. Th= ey met in each others homes and did quilting and other handwork which they sold. When the first church was built, t= he women had enough money to pay for the plastering and the carpet. Since their organization, the Aid = has always contributed freely to the church.&n= bsp; The Aid also gave $5000 to the new church. They paid on the lot next door and= on the parsonage. In 1929 the la= dies redecorated and furnished carpet for the main auditorium. All the money given was made from = the sale of handwork, suppers, working the State Fair, the Calendar Club and ot= her various ways. During the depr= ession the women started welfare work. In the summer time they canned food to give away during the coming winter. They distributed clothing to the p= oor families and gave food baskets to the needy during Thanksgiving and Christmas )= In the winter of 1909-10, a brick structure was built at Eugene = and Rader streets. St. Paul was a very large church having about 800 to 1,000 members. While most of the pe= ople who attended were from the immediate neighborhood of what was then called <= st1:place w:st=3D"on">North Indianapolis (28th street on the south, Northeastern Avenue on the east, the Canal on the west, and north to Golden Hill), there were a= lso people who came from other areas. While it was certainly not a wealthy church, we had some rather well-to-do and prominent members. (Continued next mo= nth.)