Plenty of places to practice your faith
Newcomers to the Cape Fear region quickly learn the three questions that seem to wait for them with every introduction:
What's your name?
Where are you from?
What church do you go to?
It's not that we're holier than thou around these parts -- we're just curious.
We want you to feel welcome, and we don't want to offend you or misunderstand your customs and beliefs. There's plenty of room for all of us.
Faith was a bedrock in the settlement of the region. From the Scottish settlers, who came in part to worship in their native language, to one of the first integrated churches in the South, to the church that spawned an outreach program that has grown nationwide, much of the region's history is tied to religion.
We wanted to pass along a few historically holy tidbits you can use to impress other newcomers -- just before you ask where they go to church.
Looking for a place to worship?
The Fayetteville Observer's church directory lists hundreds of churches. It's available online at www.fayobserver.com. Click on Life, then select Faith.
The Church Directory is updated as needed. Submit changes in writing with a contact number to Jennifer Plotnick, plotnickj@fayobserver.com, or P.O. Box 849, Fayetteville, NC 28302.
Interdenominational resources
Pray Cumberland County is made up of about 35 ministries of different denominations and races. Information: 867-9151.
The Fayetteville-Cumberland County Ministerial Council is an interdenominational group of pastors that, among other events, sponsors the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Prayer Breakfast. Information: 818-1149.
Operation Inasmuch is an ecumenical organization founded in Fayetteville that now stretches across the country. More than 30 area churches are take part in the group's activities. Information: 433-2161.
Fayetteville Urban Ministry is a Judeo-Christian organization made up of four programs (Emergency Assistance, Adult Literacy, Find-A-Friend and the Nehemiah Project) to help neighbors in the community. Information: 483-5944
Five famous local churches
Old Bluff Presbyterian
This church near Wade is the oldest church in the region. The original
church was organized in 1758. Its current building was erected about 1858. Old
Bluff Presbyterian Church is listed on the National Register of Historical
Places.
Evans Metropolitan A.M.E. Zion
At 301 N. Cool Spring St. downtown, this church was founded by Henry
Evans, a black shoemaker and licensed Methodist preacher who came to
Fayetteville in the late 1780s. He is buried beneath the structure.
First Presbyterian
At 102 Ann St. downtown, this church is perhaps one of the most unusual
church structures in North Carolina — and one that had to be rebuilt from
scratch. Originally built in 1816, First Presbyterian was leveled in the great fire of
1831 that burned more than 600 homes and businesses. A year later it was
rebuilt, using an ingenious system of trusses for the roof. It remains the only
one of its kind in the state. First Presbyterian is listed on the National Register
of Historic Places.
St. John's Episcopal
This church, at 302 Green St. downtown, also burned in the 1831 fire. When
rebuilt, the church included an unusual feature — 10 pyramidal spires. It also
boasts stained-glass windows made in Munich, Germany. St. John's is listed on
the National Register of Historic Places.
St. Joseph's Episcopal
At the corner of Ramsey and Moore streets downtown, this church offers a
touch of Tiffany in its services. The church separated from St. John's after the
Civil War, and the present building was built in 1896. It is influenced by Gothic,
Spanish and Queen Anne architecture, and it boasts five stained-glass windows
that were designed and made by Tiffany of New York. The windows were first
displayed at the California World's Fair in 1890.
Our churches over the years
Some tidbits about the 425 churches, mosques and synagogues in the area:
1837 -- First Baptist Church on Anderson Street is chartered.
1849 -- St. Andrews Methodist Church is organized.
1869 -- First Baptist Church, the oldest Missionary Baptist church in Fayetteville, is chartered.
1908 -- The centennial of Methodism in Fayetteville is celebrated at Hay Street Methodist Church.
1912 -- Highland Presbyterian Church buys a lot in Haymount as a site for a new church.
1927 -- The Fort Bragg Memorial Chapel Association is formed by local leaders J.M. Lilly, Frank H. Stedman and Charles G. Rose to maintain a chapel building at Fort Bragg.
1939 -- St. Ann Catholic Church, chartered for black Catholics in the region, is founded. A few years later, it offers the first integrated parochial elementary school in North Carolina.
1949 -- The interdenominational ministerial group of Fayetteville and Cumberland County changes its name to the Cumberland County Ministerial Association.
1949 -- Snyder Memorial Baptist Church, named after longtime Fayetteville pastor Joel Snyder, is founded.
1959 -- About 9,000 people jam the Oral Roberts canvas tabernacle on Raeford Road. As the faith healer conducts services, some candidates seem miraculously healed.
1961 -- Fort Bragg's 82nd Airborne Division dedicates its Division South Chapel on Ardennes Street.
1963 -- The newly completed St. Patrick Catholic Church on Village Drive is dedicated.
1965 -- The U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Center for Special Warfare Memorial Chapel is dedicated on Fort Bragg. The chapel was named in honor of President Kennedy, a strong supporter of special operations. The seven stained glass windows depict a history of special warfare.
1972 -- Members of the Mount Carmel Pentecostal Holiness Church distribute leaflets to express their disapproval of the rock opera "Jesus Christ Superstar" being performed on the stage of the Cumberland County Memorial Auditorium.