Pierce Memorial Methodist Church

The first regular appointment for Sparta as a preaching place on a circuit was in 1799 with George Dougherty, one of the great preachers of the period as pastor. In 1802, Bishop Francis Asbury preached in the courthouse. In 1806, the South Carolina Conference, of which Sparta was a member, held its session in Sparta and the town appears for the first time as head of the Sparta Circuit. That same year, Robert Flournoy, a Revolutionary soldier, deeded a lot to John Lucas and Henry Mose, trustees of the Methodist Society of Sparta. On this lot, the previous year, a church had been built. It served, with necessary remodeling, for 105 years, until 1910, when it was destroyed by fire. In 1906 the Centennial of Sparta Methodism was celebrated. This building was completed in 1934. Many prominent pastors have served this church -- George Dougherty, Jesse Lee, Bishop Atticus G. Haygood, Bishop Warren A. Candler. Though Bishop George F. Pierce was never pastor here, for many years he considered it his home church.