Saturday, February 21, 2015
Planning for Fellowship Church began long before it had a name. A survey of Methodists living in the area of Coolidge and Wattles Road in Troy indicated interest in a local church. In 1966, 7.5 acres of land on Coolidge Road were purchased. The name Fellowship was selected in January 1967. At that time there were 93 charter members of the church.
A temporary manufactured building designed as a church was used as a sanctuary. The area to the east and north of the site was still undeveloped farmland. The church even had its own well and septic system until 1992.
Seeing the potential for growth in the area, plans were made for a permanent church. The new building was arranged to provide flexible, multi-purpose use throughout, with chairs instead of pews and flexible divider panels. The new building was dedicated on February 15, 1970.
Throughout its existence, Fellowship Church has been open, creative and alert to the changing needs of the neighborhood. With so much original acreage, at the beginning, part of the property was divided into 40 garden plots to be used by church members and members of the community.
From 1974- 1978 Our Lady of the Hills Roman Catholic Church shared the building and from 2002-2005 a Vietnamese congregation shared the building but participated in many of the church activities. From 1974 until 2005 a preschool program operated out of the church as well. Fellowship UMC has always been open to all needing spiritual strength. The church is available to anyone needing such help.
On July 1, 2014 Fellowship UMC merged with Birmingham First UMC. It is now the Troy campus of that church.
To commemorate the City of Troy’s 60th Anniversary in 2015, we will publish a different story each day that highlights a person, discovery, or event that occurred locally, regionally, nationally, or even globally between 1955 and 2015 and that helped shape our lives and our community. We will try to post stories on important anniversary dates, but we also realize that dates are less critical than content and context. We will include the facts related to controversial stories, allowing our readers to form their own opinions. We invite you to read and comment on the stories. Your suggestions for topics are also welcome and can be posted on our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/TroyHistoricVillage. You can also email stories or ideas to the 365 Story Editor at ed@thvmail.org.
