The Brightwood faith community wanted to memorialize investments and sacrifices church members had made in order to support new renovations to the church property. In 1923 there was an influx in growth in the Brightwood community. The education building was built in 1921 – lists of donors along with offering envelopes with amounts were included in the time capsule. Again in 1949, the Cornerstone included an extensive list of persons who gave and made sacrifices for their community to help build a new sanctuary.
The Indiana United Methodist Church Archives received the items discovered in the time capsule and are processing and cataloging the items and the descriptions. They will be available through the DePauw Digital library, Archives Inventories once they are processed. The 1923 Cornerstone held a scroll wrapped tight and secured by a piece of thread. We gently unrolled the scroll to learn that the time capsule honored their thirty-one Sunday school teachers and twenty-nine officers by listing them on the scroll.
The 1949 Cornerstone included A History of Brightwood Methodist Church, a document written by Mr. and Mrs. Frank Engle. “In 1919 the Bishop appointed Rev. R. A. Ragsdale who continued as pastor until 1925. During Rev. Ragsdale’s tenure the old church was torn down and on March 18, 1921, the present education building was started. The current Sunday school unit was dedicated on September 2, 1923, at the cost of $45,165.60.”
They continued; “In 1949 the basement for a new sanctuary was dug. There is a wide interest in the building and growth of the church. There were 113 new members by Christmas. Ninety-eight new members were received into the church on March 5, 1950, with one of the largest congregations in the history of the church. There is now a present membership of 985.”
Originally shared by Metro Ministries, Inc.