RISON - Morgan King of Woodlawn said she has always had fond memories of her grandfather and Wesley Chapel Church in the Randall community, recalling how were pawpaw loved going there for Easter sunrise services.And it was those kind of memories that spurred her to attend a meeting of the Wesley Chapel Cemetery Association this past weekend since the fate of the historic 153-year-old church was on the agenda. The church has not been used in a couple of years, and a leak in the roof led to what she described as some significant damage to the church floor just inside the front doors. She said the Wesely Chapel Association was considering tearing down the old church down due to its condition, but King said she convinced them she wanted to start an effort to raise money restore the church.“I don’t know why, but I just felt like I had to do something,” King said.That meeting took place on Saturday, and by Sunday evening, King had already established a Wesley Chapel Church/Cemetery page on Facebook to promote the effort, seek donations and keep supporters informed about the progress. By Monday, she had donation buckets set up at the convenience stores in Woodlawn and Rowell.Wesley Chapel was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. It was built in 1872 on three acres of land donated by Augustus and Margret Bridges in 1870 for a church and cemetery. The one-story wood frame structure was built in the Greek Revival style that was common for rural Methodist churches of that era. The design is much like the Mt. Olivet Church at the Pioneer Village in Rison featuring two front doors and rectangular pane windows along both side walls and the back wall of the church.According to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History, the congregation was organized in 1870 and was part of the Lehi Circuit of the Pine Bluff District, Little Rock Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The church continued to be use...
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