Orange, Orange County
This African American congregation held informal worship services in homes and later in a nearby building before church trustees Josiah Hardin, William Holmes, Peter Rogers, Julius Sanders, and Silas Hardin acquired a town lot here for church building purposes in 1894. That year a wood frame sanctuary was built and the congregation formally organized as the Saint Paul Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. According to local tradition, the congregation chose to name their church for Saint Paul because of his historically significant missionary undertakings. Led by the Rev. E. A. Strong, a new wood frame church building was constructed here in 1945. Growth in the congregation's membership prompted the building of a new brick sanctuary at this site in 1969. A new parsonage was purchased in 1989, and in 1989-90 the congregation purchased two adjoining lots for future expansion purposes. The congregation sponsors several church programs including a Sunday School teaching program, Bible study, Christian youth fellowship and young adult fellowship. Its missionary society, which includes the Annie Rose Circle, Willie Green Circle, and Youth Circle, provides religious guidance for the community.