In the spring of 1893, a number of men from the Eden community met at the Eden School to discuss building a church in the little village of Eden. No record was found of the actual construction, but it evidently took 6 to 7 years to raise the finances and build the church. In the meantime, Sunday School was being held at the Eden school. On January 1, 1899, the number in Sunday School was 35 and the offering was 48 pennies.
On June 6, 1900, the cornerstone was laid and the Dedication Service was held in the new Eden Methodist Church. Eden Church had become a reality for the people in this small community.
In the 1930’s, many times there were only 5 – 10 people at services. It was largely through the prayers, efforts and faithfulness of Paul and Clara Redman that Eden Church survived during that time period.
In 1943, the trustees of the Eden Methodist Episcopal Church began the transition to the United Brethren in Christ denomination. On June 29, 1944, the board met to elect the first officers of the Eden United Brethren Church. At this time, Eden Church was placed on a circuit with nearby Housel United Brethren Church until the fall of 1946.
As the people of Eden Church were steadfast in service to their Lord, he continued to bless them and the church grew so it become time to start a new building program. On September 24, 1967, a new sanctuary, fellowship hall and educational classes were dedicated by Bishop Clyde Meadows. The church took another step of faith in 1970 and hired their first assistant pastor.
April 16, 1978 saw another building program begin with a ground breaking service. More Sunday school class rooms, kitchen, nursery and a new sanctuary were to be constructed. The present sanctuary would then become a fellowship hall. At this time, the original little white country church would be torn down. It was a sad day but Praise the Lord, Eden Church had outgrown its facilities. On April 27, 1980, that building project was completed and the beautiful new sanctuary was dedicated to the Lord.
In the mid 1990’s a pole barn was constructed to house the lawn mower, snow blower etc. and equipment for the Properties Team to maintain the church building and properties.
The year 2000 brought about Eden Church’s 100 Anniversary with a big celebration with former pastors, former parishioners, many United Brethren pastors and community friends to help celebrate what God had done through Eden Church for 100 years.
The ministry of Eden Church continued to grow and a long-range planning committee was formed to help plan for future expansion. Plans began formulating for a commercial kitchen, more class rooms and a gymnasium where a youth centered sports ministry could be formed. On November 14, 2004, the Family Life Center was completed and dedicated to the Lord’s service. The Family Life Center is comprised of: kitchen, gymnasium, office, nursery, and Sunday school class rooms.
Tragically on January 28, 2005, a devastating fire stuck the church and the majority of the building and its contents were ravished by the fire. There was just a shell of the building left and it was unsafe, therefore, it had to be completely demolished. The Family Life Center building that had just been dedicated in November had smoke and water damage but was able to be saved and repaired. This was a very difficult time for the Eden Church congregation but God was faithful. During this time, the community rallied to help in many, many ways. The Mason United Methodist Church very graciously let us use their facilities for worship services. When the Family Life Center had been renovated, the congregation returned to worship in the gym until the new sanctuary was completed.
With this tragedy, another building project was started once again to build a new sanctuary and classrooms. On September 4, 2006 a very thankful congregation dedicated their new sanctuary to the Glory of God. God has blessed the Eden Church for well over 100 years and we give Him all the Praise for his Faithfulness.
