History:

Allen Memorial United Methodist Church in Oxford, Georgia has a long and rich history, beginning with the purchase of land by the Methodist Church in 1836 for the establishment of a town and college. The town was named Oxford after the University in England attended by John Wesley,the founder of Methodism. All of the streets were named for Methodist leaders. The college was named Emory College (later becoming Emory University) after Methodist Bishop John Emory. When the college opened in 1838 the Oxford Methodist Church held services in a chapel on the campus. By 1841 Oxford's historic “Old Church” was built on Wesley Street and dedicated by Bishop William Capers to meet the spiritual needs of the college students and the community. In 1844 an Oxford resident Bishop James Andrew was at the center of a split in the Methodist Church due to his ownership of a slave. This led to the establishment of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. [The Northern and Southern churches were reunited in 1939.] During the War Between the States, Old Church was used as a hospital for both Federal and Confederate wounded and the citizens of the town, both black and white, held services in a chapel which had been built for the slaves. This was located in a portion of the Oxford Historic Cemetery. After the War, the Old Church was the scene of one of the late nineteenth century's most important sermons. Atticus Haygood, a Methodist bishop and the President of Emory College, delivered his famous "New South"speech, widely credited with having been the inspiration for Henry Grady’s (namesake of Grady Hospital in Atlanta) more famous speech of a similar title.

Allen Memorial United Methodist Church is a congregation with a long history of serving God in Oxford, Georgia and Newton County. The Old Church and the 1910 Sanctuary stand as powerful testimonies to the rich blessings which God has bestowed on Oxford in the past two centuries. As new generations of faithful, caring people gather to pray, worship, serve, and fellowship, they carry on the strong tradition of Methodism in Oxford, Georgia.