Established in 1921 as the Vienna United Brethren Church, St. John United Methodist Church at 3911 Grand Central Ave. is celebrating its 100th anniversary this month. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

VIENNA — Pictures and artifacts from the last century were featured as part of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of St. John United Methodist Church in Vienna this month.

“Many churches don’t make it to 100 years,” said the Rev. Dean Cole, pastor of the church. “We just had to thank the Lord for being faithful all those years.”

Cole became pastor of the church last year, but he has a family connection to the church included in a history compiled by lifelong member Mila Combs. His grandfather, the Rev. E. Ray Cole, was superintendent of the West Virginia Conference of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ when the group held its 83rd annual session at the church in 1942, and would have preached from the pulpit at that time.

The church was known then as the Vienna United Brethren Church. It began in April 1921 with a committee formed by the First United Brethren Church of Parkersburg. The trustees ordered work to begin on the church on June 16 of that year.

The Rev. F.H. Capehart was the first pastor of the church, which held its initial service on Feb. 26, 1922, in the basement of the new structure. The first service in the auditorium took place on May 14, with a dedication service held the following week. A newspaper article recounting that day said a total of 1,200 people attended the three services on May 21, with $4,200 in donations raised.

St. John United Methodist Church member Mila Combs, the Rev. Dean Cole and secretary Gail Gaines converse Friday in the church sanctuary, where a number of items from the church’s history were set up to celebrate its 100th anniversary June 13. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

For the June 13 anniversary service and celebration, church members set up in the sanctuary items from throughout the church’s history, including a pulpit seen in a photo from around 1937, after a nearly $23,000 expansion was completed. Also featured was a stewards table, an instrument of accountability in the church’s early days.

“The stewards would literally count the offering during the service,” Combs said.

The church became known as the Vienna First Evangelical United Brethren Church following the merger of the United Brethren and Evangelical churches in 1946.

In 1953, the church helped organize three others, which exist today as the East Vienna, Rosemar and Sand Hill United Methodist Churches.

“(They) all grew from membership here that expanded to those areas,” Combs said.

St. John United Methodist church member Mila Combs, left, the Rev. Dean Cole and secretary Gail Gaines pose for a photo Friday at a pulpit used more than 80 years ago at the church, which celebrated its 100th anniversary June 13. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

The church was renamed St. John United Methodist after the Evangelical United Brethren and Methodist churches joined in 1968 to form the United Methodist Church. Some members today belonged to the church before that, including Combs and church secretary Gail Gaines.

“There’s a lot of history in this church,” said Gaines, who’s been a part of it since 1960.

The Rev. Sandra Steiner-Ball, bishop of the West Virginia Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, delivered the message during the June 13 anniversary service. A reception — with gospel music performed by Tracy Miller, Johnny Staats and the Putnam Family — followed in the afternoon. Among those attending were the Rev. Loretta Isaiah, district superintendent; Vienna Mayor Randy Rapp; and church member Ann Johnson, the daughter of Capehart, the church’s first pastor.

Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.

This photo from 1921 or 1922 shows the Vienna United Brethren Church, now known as St. John United Methodist, during construction. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

This stewards table, where church stewards used to tally the offering during the service, is among the historical items set up to mark the 100th anniversary of St. John United Methodist Church. (Photo by Evan Bevins)