, Clay County
The oldest church in the Joy community, this congregation was chartered as a Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in April 1881, when the settlements was known as Fannin Town. The site of the organizational meeting, now part of Joy Cemetery, was under an oak tree west of a log schoolhouse where early services were held. The first sanctuary was built here in 1891. From early camp meetings to the present programs of community involvement, Joy United Methodist Church has been a vital force in the surrounding rural area for over a century. (1983)