by Margaret Baugham

SEDLEY
The 100th anniversary of Grace Memorial United Methodist Church in Sedley will be celebrated on Saturday, April 29, at 5:30 p.m., with a casual dinner, history presentation and music. The celebration continues on Sunday at a 10 a.m. gathering, 11 a.m. worship service and 12:30 p.m. lunch.

Grace Memorial had its beginnings with a small group of early residents of the community of Sedley in 1914 who assembled in the Sedley Grade School building: Methodists, Baptists, Christians and Friends gathered for a unified Sunday School.

As the group grew, the Methodists began to work toward organizing a Methodist church. The Rev. E.K. Odell, a Methodist conference evangelist, conducted a revival service. Odell returned the $25 purse given him, requesting that it be used for building a Methodist church. With this encouragement it was decided to build a Methodist Church.

On April 28, 1917, the. Rev. Burke held the opening services of Grace Memorial Methodist Church. The church was named in memory of Odell’s wife, Grace Burgess Odell, who had died two weeks before the revival service.

The cornerstone was laid on June 26, 1917.