Church History
120 Years of History and Service
Sunset Drive Church
Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors.
Photo of the Broadway United Brethren Church originally located on Central Street in the heart of Broadway.
This brief history of the Church now known as Sunset Drive United Methodist Church begins back during the year of 1888 when a collection of 37 courageous men and women were received into what was then called the Singers Glen Circuit and where called the Broadway "Class". This group held there first meetings on the second floor of the building that was then called Deering Hall, located on Main Street in Broadway. It was not until 1889 that the church was officially organized and added to the Singers Glen Circuit at the Annual Conference.
The Broadway Class held their meetings in Deering Hall until 1893 at which time the first church building as shown above in the photo was completed and dedicated on June 11, 1893 with a cost of $1,500 recorded. The church continued to strive and grow over the next 34 years, in 1927 the first Church Parsonage was purchased for a cost of $2,100 and dedicated on September 1, 1929. In 1932 a well was drilled at the parsonage along with other improvements on the church at a cost of $302. Again the church continued to grow along with its membership and in the year 1940 a new Sunday School Unit addition was added to the back of the church and a oil burning furnace was installed to replace the coal burning stoves at a cost of $2,500. This new building addition as dedicated on June 16, 1940.
The next big change for the church came in November 1946 when the United Brethren Church in Christ was officially changed to the Evangelical United Brethren Church after the two churches merged. In 1948 new pews were ordered along with the laying of a new floor and carpeting for the isle and pulpit at a cost of $1,903. In 1951 the first organ was purchased, a Wurlitzer at a price of $2,500. Over the next 12 years as the church continued to grow, the need for more space was becoming apparent and the church debated to either remodel and expand or to build a new church. This debate continued with various options considered until 1963 at which time a decision was approved to purchase approximately 3 acres of land formally known as the Smith property located on "Shanks Lane" at a cost of $6,000. Today "Shanks Lane" is know as Sunset Drive.
In October of 1963 the ground breaking ceremony was held for the current church building located on Sunset Drive. On June 1st 1964 a bid of $95,000 was accepted from Newman Building and Material Corporation of Timberville, VA to construct the church. At this same time approval was given to build a church parsonage directly beside the new church building and a bid of $19,058 was accepted from Lantz Homes Incorporated of Broadway, VA to construct the building now known as the Church Annex House Building. On September 26, 1965 the first service was held in the new church with 150 people in attendance. Later that year on November, 29 the parsonage was first occupied by the Rev. and Mrs. Hickle. The Rev. Hickle performed the first wedding ceremony in the new church on December 12, 1965 when Miss Charlotte Han and Mr. Larry Trumbo were united in marriage.
1966 Photo of the newly completed Church Building located on Sunset Drive
On August 14, 1966 the new church building was dedicated and so began another history chapter of The Evangelical United Brethren Church of Broadway, VA. With the new church building and parsonage projects completed and dedicated, the church could now focus on God's mission of reaching out to the community and spreading God's word. However in 1967 came another name change for the church when the union of the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church took place. With the need for a new church name and the new church building being located on Sunset Drive, logic prevailed and Sunset Drive United Methodist Church was selected. Now that the church had a new building and a new name, the members set out again on God's mission.
Over the next several years the church continued to grow along with the small town of Broadway. Several major events helped shape the church and the many opportunities for it's members. In 1971 the formation of the United Methodist Women's group gave the ladies a chance to come together as a unit in the community with a purpose to know God and to experience freedom as whole persons through Jesus Christ. The new larger building allowed the ladies more creative and supportive fellowship while expanding the concepts of mission through participation in the global ministries of the church. As Broadway continued to grow, so did the church and by the early 1980's the need for a larger meeting area and additional restrooms was debated. So in 1985 a new building addition was added on the south end of the church that included a large conference room and additional restrooms. Also the need for an elevator to access the basement fellowship hall was growing for the aging members of the church and for the handicap. After careful planning and approval, an elevator was installed just off the narthex to give full access to the basement for everyone.
In 1996 the formation of the United Methodist Men's group gave the men many of the same opportunities for spiritual growth and community service as the women in 1971. As the 20th century came to a close and the year 2000 passed by, the church again was faced with the need to either build additional class rooms for a growing Sunday School program and the Music program or build a new ground floor fellowship hall to allow for more larger community events and social functions. After a couple of years of debating the issue and a change of pastors, the church voted to pursue a new fellowship hall which would best serve the growing community. With the overall costs of building materials and labor costs quickly increasing, the church set forth on an aggressive fund raising campaign and on Sept. 9th of 2006 we broke ground on the new fellowship hall. Also during this time the existing church parsonage was renovated and converted over to house the church office and Pastor's office on the upper floor and the lower floor was taken over by the Junior and Senior High Youth Groups. This conversion of the parsonage freed up some much need classroom space and allowed our current Pastor Bob Throckmorten Jr. to move into the comfort of a new home.
On Sept 9th of 2007, exactly one year from the ground breaking on the new fellowship hall, the building was dedicated with the hope of serving as a spiritual focal point for the surrounding community. The new fellowship hall also has a modern kitchen capable of cooking for and serving large groups. The fellowship hall is available for use by outside groups and anyone interested can contact the church office at 896-3970. Ample parking is available in a new second parking lot added in 2006 and future plans call for this new lot to be paved and lighted for night time use. As for other future plans, as the church continues to grow, a new educational wing has been studied and proposed that would create new classrooms and new music rooms for the different choirs and the hand bell choir. Other future plans call for the old fellowship hall in the basement to be converted into a permanent arts and crafts room for the Angels Workshop and a practice and rehearsal room for the adult choir. With God's guidance and his amazing grace, Sunset Drive UMC will continue to welcome everyone and come together as God's children to learn his will, be nurtured in the Christian faith, and depart into our community to serve and witness so that all people may know the love of Christ.
