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As today, however, some were not satisfied. “The results were far from what we expected and sincerely hoped for,” wrote an observer in 1929 after an uplift and revival program. “The reason was to be found in the lack of cooperation of our church people and the community at large. The work was not lost, for one entire family, or near so, were brought into the church as well as others. Too many of our citizens are anchored to a phase of old time Calvinism to become real active church members. This community needs a thorough spiritual overhauling.” Some things never change!

The end of the 1920’s dealt a severe blow to the church. The Reynoldsburg Bank foreclosed, and the entire community, including the church, lost a considerable amount of money. The budget was reduced and some bills went unpaid. Depositors were eventually repaid a small amount of their funds, but the Markle family lost $272 of its meager annual salary of less than $1,000!

In June, 1935, a five-day commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the church was held, with musical programs, worship services, an “Old Times Meeting,” a Boy Scout Camporee, and a church dinner. Among the participants were John W. Bricker, future governor and U.S. senator, and Judge Arthur H. Day of the Ohio Supreme Court.

By the end of the Depression, Reynoldsburg had developed a population of almost 500, but it was still basically a one-street town. The Methodist Episcopal Church had an impressive youth program, with 25 or 30 regularly attending the evening meetings. The youth committed themselves to Christ and witnessed to others in the area. They also traveled to churches around the state and held retreats at Lancaster Campground.

In 1939, the Methodist Episcopal Church merged with the Methodist Church South and the Methodist Protestant Church. Reynoldsburg’s church became the Methodist Church – “A Church of Friendly Folks.” It is still so today, with its “Ritual of Friendship” during morning worship services. The Ladies’ Aid Society became the Women’s Society of Christian Service.

Under Rev. Carlton J. Babbs, some improvements were made to the old church building. A basement was excavated during a two year period by church members using picks, shovels, and wheelbarrows, and the bricks were stored up to prevent collapse. An antique pipe organ was purchased in Columbus and installed in the sanctuary.

America was at war again, and the Reynoldsburg Methodist Church sent 46 of its members into the service. A class of older girls took charge of sending the newsletter to the 11 servicemen overseas. Two of the soldiers lost their lives and one was declared missing in action.

During the war, Reynoldsburg’s weekly newspaper folded and the Methodist Church joined with the two Presbyterian churches in putting out a mimeographed news sheet. General community news was on the front page, and church news in the rest of the paper, which came out every two weeks. Lay people even became part of the newsgathering team.

In the fall of 1945, the church began to help repatriate war veterans and get them back into the church. Special fellowship activities were promoted for this purpose.

Under Dr. Austin R. Whitmore, Methodist Church membership grew to 377 out of a community of 700. Average weekly attendance increased from 73 during the war years to 98 in 1946. Easter attendance swelled to 246 that year. The number of financial pledges by members grew from 26 in 1942 to 96 in 1946. The church budget climbed from $2,600 to $4,600.

In 1946, the Reynoldsburg and New Albany Methodist Churches, which had been in a single circuit, voted to separate, and the Reynoldsburg minister’s salary the following year went to $2,100 for taking care of one church.

Rev. Everal B. McBroom became pastor in 1950 and served for eight years. “I saw Reynoldsburg grow from a sleepy country town centered along Main Street to a suburban city with its own shopping center and a quadrupled population,” said Rev. McBroom. Columbus crept to within two miles of the Reynoldsburg boundary, and U.S. Census Bureau figures showed eastern Franklin County to be the fastest-growing area in the nation.

With this growth, the Methodist Church’s membership more than doubled and the value of its real estate increased by more than four times. The church abandoned the 120-year-old parsonage, bought one behind the church and received by will another house immediately to the east on Main Street. The property was used to build a combination educational wing and fellowship hall on the side of the church. It was dedicated in the fall of 1957. Although the church’s property values increased by $87,500 from 1950-58, the members were intent on minimizing debt. They adopted strong fiscal policies, limited the debt to $18,000, paid all current claims, and met conference askings on a quarterly basis.

Rev. McBroom reported a “deepening of the spiritual life of the church” with a growing number of tithers. By 1958, the church budget had grown from $9,627 a year to $34,91l, and the pastor’s salary had increased from $3,000 a year to $5,100. Music was an important part of the church in the McBroom years. Adult, junior, cherub, and rhythmic choirs performed at the morning worship services, by then two each Sunday. They also presented programs in other churches, in the community, and at Lakeside during conference time.

In 1962 Rev. Charles D. Kirsch arrived, and once again it was time for a change – the most dramatic change in the history of the Reynoldsburg Methodist Church. Rev. Kirsch said the old brick church was “woefully inadequate and could scarcely care for the new people who were moving almost daily into the Reynoldsburg community.” By this time, there were three worship services every Sunday morning. People had to stand in line outside to wait to get into the sanctuary as each service ended. Kirsch also was aghast at the condition of the parsonage, the basement of which had been used for raising worms. “Any time it rained, there was mud running through the basement, and the damp odor from the worm cellar permeated the house all the time,” he recalled.

Kirsch devised an ambitious capital construction program and called on influential leaders of the church to sell it to the congregation. The alternatives were to expand existing facilities, start another Methodist church, or purchase property elsewhere in the community and construct a new church complex. In December, 1962, the charge conference voted by more than 100 to 11 to buy the Dean Jeffers property on Graham Road for $70,000 and build a new church. The total cost of the building program was to be $600,000. The Reynoldsburg Methodist Church was now truly in debt.

But the old church was sold and ground was broken for the first phase of the project – the round fellowship hall – in May, 1964. J. Merle Brill, treasurer of the building fund, prayed: “that a church may rise here where multitudes shall be refreshed in spirit, relieved from pain, released from bondage, and redeemed from sin.”

During construction, the homeless church had to spread its activities throughout the community. As Rev. Kirsch remembered, it was conceivable that a single family might have to place a baby in the nursery in one home, a toddler in the parsonage, and another child in Sunday School at Graham Road Elementary School before proceeding to worship services at the Junior High School. Four stops on a Sunday morning!

The fellowship hall was to have been completed by Christmas Eve, and services in the new building had been planned for months. But the hall was not ready. The next best thing was to be a candlelight procession from the Junior High School past the new church building. This was washed out by a thunderstorm. Undaunted, the parishioners took to their cars and an automobile parade passed by the fellowship hall to see lights inside for the first time. A manger scene could be viewed by those who wished to go in.

As construction proceeded, Rev. Kirsch did not rest. He attracted new members in unprecedented numbers until the church enrollment exceeded 2,000. He brought in retired Rev. Grover Reed, a spry elderly man who served as parish minister until his death in 1973 at age 82. He asked for, and received, an unprecedented annual budget of $65,000 for the church in 1965. Two new parsonages were acquired, and Rev. D. Dale Baumgardner was obtained as Kirsch’s assistant.

In 1968, the traditional colonial church building was completed at the Graham Road site. It was a dream come true for longtime church members, an attraction for new ones, and a monument to those who worked so hard and sacrificed over the years.

At about the same time, the Methodist Church merged with the Evangelical United Brethren Church, and our church became the Reynoldsburg United Methodist Church.

The round fellowship hall, used for a variety of church and social activities, was named Kirsch Hall in honor of Rev. Kirsch.

Late in 1969, Rev. Floyd W. Powell became the senior minister and immediately began work to reduce the enormous debt of more than one-half million dollars and get the church back to contributing its fair share of conference apportionments. He succeeded. In five years, the debt dropped to $300,000 and was being paid off at the rate of $40,000 a year.