Avondale United Methodist Church records

The Avondale United Methodist Church was established in Muncie, Indiana in 1891, as the first church to be located in Muncie's south side. South side churchgoers often found it difficult because of the lack of sidewalks, streetcars or buses to attend services at the mother church, High Street Methodist. Dr. C.U. Wade, pastor of the High Street Church, helped the south side residents form a society of Methodists. Canvassing the neighborhood, Dr. Wade located 20 persons who formed the church's original charter and he served as the church's first pastor.

During the summer of 1891, a church building was erected at the corner of Tenth Street and Samson Avenue. Dedicated November 8, 1891, the church was a two-room frame structure; the larger north room was the auditorium, which was separated from the smaller room by a series of folding doors. The seven foot square entrance was equipped with two sets of double swinging doors, one set leading into each room. The belfry extended over the entrance and terminated in a tall four-sided pyramid to a point. Two large stoves heated the building. It had gaslights and a seating capacity for 200. In 1892, baptisms were conducted in White River near the High Street Bridge.

In April 1892, the Rev. J.A. Ruley became the second pastor and Rev. Thomas Sells followed a year later. A smallpox epidemic and the Panic of 1893 left the Avondale Church incapable of supporting a full time minister, so the Church became a mission of the High Street Church until 1895. In 1904, male church members began to dig a basement for the church, mainly doing the work in the evenings and nights after they finished their office and factory jobs.

In 1920, the growing congregation realized that more space was needed. Under the supervision of the pastor, Rev. J. Walter Gibson, who had some building experience, the Church built a new two story brick structure with a seating capacity of 600 on the site of the old church. The first church building was moved to the back of the lot and rebuilt into the north part of the present building. Most of the building material was retrieved from the old Tabor church southeast of Muncie, which was torn down. The cost of the new building was $30,000. In the fall of 1929 a two-story brick parsonage was added.

The Avondale Church survived the desressed economy of the 1930s and the war years of the 1940s. New Sunday School classrooms were added in the 1950s and adjacent property was purchased for parking. The Church continued to remodel its facilities using materials and volunteer labor from congregants. In April 1991, the congregation celebrated its 100th anniversary.