CHURCH CONGREGATIONS LOOK TO NEW QUARTERS IN EARLY JANUARY

~Correction: The first Methodist church in city was NOT located on the current site of St. Vincent's Seminary; it was across the street on Morgan Oak.

Maple Avenue United Methodist Church, a landmark in the southern sector of the city, will move to a new location early this month.

The Cape Rock Church of God has purchased the Maple Avenue church property at 623 South Ellis, the corner of Maple and Ellis.

The two church congregations will meet in their respective new quarters next Sunday.

`"We've been anticipating a move to facilities where we can expand," said Maple Avenue United Methodist minister, the Rev. Jimmie R. Dace. "The new site at the intersection of Cape Rock and Jean Ann will serve this purpose."

The official address of the new Methodist church will be 2441 Jean Ann, "but we'll maintain the present name of Maple Avenue United Methodist," said Dace.

The property, former site of an Evangelical Lutheran Church, has a sanctuary and parsonage, but it has been vacant for the most part of the past eight years.

"We have a building committee, and we'll be looking to expand and build around the present building," said Dace. "We probably have enough room to accommodate our membership at present, but we wanted a site where we could grow."

He added that the new building project would be done in phases, starting some time this year.

"We'll build around the present structure, and eventually turn it into a fellowship hall," said Dace.

Maple Avenue United Methodist Church has about 200 members. Dace said most of the congregation lived north and west of the present site of the church and the majority of members supported the move.

Dace noted that the 2441 Jean Ann location was at one time leased by the Cape Rock Church of God.

Cape Rock Church of God is currently holding church at the French Village, 907 Broadway.

"It'll be great to be in our own building," said the Rev. Jonathan Vorce. "We're pleased with the location. We want to reach out to that part of town. A lot of our members were originally from that area."

Vorce said the current congregation of the church is 96.

The current Cape Rock Church of God was established here in 1972.

"We want to establish a Sunday feeding program, for less fortunate people, including the homeless," said Vorce. "We also want to establish a food pantry. We want to do anything to help people. We invited FISH to stay."

FISH, an organization that which provides food supplies, utilities and transportation help to the less fortunate, had been operating from the church, but had already made arrangements to move to a new location.

FISH will open at 106 S. Sprigg Monday.

The first Maple Avenue Methodist Church was built in Cape Girardeau more than 100 years after Methodism first came to the city.

Methodism in Cape Girardeau dates back to 1809 when the area was part of the Cape Girardeau Circuit, and included a wide area in Southeast Missouri.

The first Methodist church was constructed in 1819 where St. Vincent's Seminary now stands. A second Methodist church was later built at the corner of Middle and Bellevue, and in 1906, the site of the present Centenary Methodist, at the corner of Ellis and Bellevue, was purchased.

There was no Protestant church south of William Street in the city, and a drive was launched by the Methodists to build one.

A site on Maple, near the Mississippi River, was selected and in 1912, the new Maple Avenue Methodist Church opened. The Rev. O.J. Ferguson, who attended Southeast Missouri State University, was appointed its first pastor.

The church remained in its first location until 1915, when the congregation decided that the church should move farther west because of the steady growth of the city in that direction.

A lot was purchased at the corner of Maple and Ellis, and in 1916, a new church opened. Due to growth in membership, the new building was constructed in 1941. It was damaged by fire in 1958, and that resulted in a complete rebuilding of the church.