Our History

Crosswood United Methodist Church is the product of a merger of three congregations in 2006:  Calvary United Methodist Church, Community United Methodist Church, and Greenwood United Methodist Church.

We broke ground for our 400-seat multipurpose sanctuary in February 2008 and dedicated the building in April 2009.  We are a friendly neighborhood church full of people of all ages and backgrounds.

Here is some information that honors the three congregations that blazed the trail before Crosswood United Methodist Church was formed in 2006:

In Fall 1884, after a few years of holding weekly prayer meetings at the home of Isaac Shupp on North State Street, several Marion-area families decided to purchase a lot and establish a church at the corner of Church Street and High Street.  The cost of the new church property was $1,200.00.  The church building was dedicated on February 22, 1885 and the group of families took the name Calvary Evangelical Mission Church.  The first building was entirely refurbished and rededicated on August 25, 1901.  In 1904, membership had grown sufficiently, so an adjoining lot was purchased.  Work began in April 1917 on a new, bigger church building and it was dedicated in 1918.

On October 21, 1956 at the old Progressive Grange Hall on Richland Road, families totaling 46 people began to meet for worship.  A few months later, in December, 39 adult members officially chartered a new church congregation at that location:  Community Methodist Church.  The senior pastor was Dr. Venton Busler, formerly of Epworth Methodist Church, and he utilized the help of many student pastors from the Methodist Theological Seminary in Delaware, Ohio to grow the new church.  In March 1958, an adjoining parcel of land (5.58 acres) was purchased from Mr. & Mrs. Howard Click for $1,000.00 per acre.  In 1958, an additional adjoining 5.7 acres of land was purchased from the Mack heirs for $5,173.00.  Crosswood United Methodist Church now sits on this piece of property.

Due to the deep concern of Mrs. Frank Donaugh for unchurched people in the northeast neighborhoods of Marion, and since there was no place to worship in the immediate area, Greenwood Church was born.  It began with a weekly Sunday school at the old Mark Street School on February 22, 1914 and soon 186 people were present for the first official worship service.  It was a great blessing when Calvary Evangelical Mission Church soon took an interest in Greenwood Church.  Calvary did much to enable the newly formed Greenwood ministry to continue to grow.

United Methodists come in all sizes, shapes, colors, dispositions, outlooks, and life stories. Our members speak many languages and live in many countries. But we all share a unique history and faith perspective. No matter how or where we serve Jesus Christ, United Methodists do God’s work in a unique structure called “the connection." This concept has been central to Methodism from its very beginning.

Connectionalism can be seen in our United Methodist clergy appointment system, our shared mission and outreach efforts across the world, and through our collective apportionment giving to fund worldwide ministry. As an entire denomination, United Methodists live out our call to mission and ministry by engaging with the poor and marginalized and by combating diseases of poverty by improving global health. We create new worship spaces for new people and we renew existing congregations. And we prioritize developing principled Christian leaders for the transformation of the world.

No single congregation can do worldwide ministry by itself. But TOGETHER – through the power of our CONNECTION – the United Methodist denomination and its congregations across the face of the globe make a tremendous difference in the world. Every United Methodist Church helps to contribute, all for the glory of God.

The people of the United Methodist denomination:

• Help people in their communities
• Accept people for who they are
• Offer a place to belong and to plug in
• Care for and support each other
• Show respect for other religions
• Support people facing difficulty
• Welcome diverse opinions and beliefs
• Guide others to find deeper meaning in life