Please post your memories of Oconee Street UMC on this page. Click “Leave A Reply” and add your memory.
Have a photo you’d like to share? We are creating a photo gallery of memories from inside the old building. Please email a .jpg to oconeestreetumc@gmail.com.
Note: to avoid spam, all comments must be approved by site administrators, so you will not see your comment immediately posted.
Well, I don’t know where to begin….I was Christened as an infant at Oconee Street UMC with my Mom & Dad (Ruth & “Tip” Aaron) and my two Aunts (Ethel Zuber & Jennie Bray) right there with me in 1956. This church really was my summer church home as I always went to VBS and Sunday services (while Aunt Ethel sang in the choir) every summer during my youth. I hope someone copied or digitalized all the pictures that hung in the old dining hall so they can be re-printed and hung again. My friends Cheryl & Donna and I were in so many of those photos from the early 60’s. My brother Larry Aaron were in some of the older ones, too. I remember going to Sunday School class with Aunt Ethel in the small upstairs rooms above the sanctuary. So many great memories!
Praying for this church to rebuild and hold an old-fashioned homecoming when it holds the 1st service afterwards!! I will try to be there!
The day that Kevin & I joined the church the hymn playing was” Here I AM Lord “.. Lots of great memories of great sermons , food ,fun and fellowship. One big Happy family. Love ya’ll
Oconee Street UMC is where I learned the importance of service, through serving food to the needy at Our Daily Bread, through parking cars “for God” during UGA football games to raise money for the Athens Nurses Clinic, and through serving on various church committees to help one of God’s congregations keep going strong.
It’s where I learned the importance of a church family, through the meals that were personally brought to my home my church members when each of my children were born, through the visits in the hospital my wife received when she was in intensive care, and through the many prayers and countless hugs for my terminally ill father.
It’s where I learned how to be a teacher to people of all ages, through teaching Sunday school to children from 5 to 18 years old, through engaging in challenging discussions in the University of Faith studies, and through leading adult Bible study classes with my peers.
It’s where I learned how to be a better parent, through the guidance received in the “Parenting in the Light” class, through the examples of other parents in the congregation going through the same struggles, and through the words of support, advice and encouragement from the elders in the church.
It’s where I learned to be a better Christian, through Pastor Lisa’s sermons which always challenge me to be Christ-like in my actions and to be accepting of all those different than me, through fellow members of the church who are excellent excellent role models in their faith and service, and through the children who demonstrate faithfulness with their trust in the God and God’s people.
Although the church building has burned down, my strongest memories of Oconee Street UMC are in the people who make the church — and they are alive and more vibrant than ever!
I think the hard-working members who were there right after the fire salvaged all the photos. Please give my love to Tip!
Thanks, Joel! I certainly will.