Frazer Church is a Free Methodist

megachurch A megachurch is a church with a very large membership that also offers a variety of educational and social activities. Most megachurches are Evangelical, although the term denotes a type of organization, not a denomination. A megachurch draws 2 ...

located at 6000 Atlanta Highway,

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama. Named for Continental Army major general Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River on the Gulf Coastal Plain. The population was 2 ...

. It has 4,055 members with a mission to "Make disciples of Jesus Christ for the hope of the world".

History

Beginnings

Frazer Methodist Church began in 1889 in a storeroom on Holt Street, Montgomery. A local

preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who Open-air preaching, preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach com ...

held

Sunday School ] A Sunday school, sometimes known as a Sabbath school, is an educational institution, usually Christianity, Christian in character and intended for children or neophytes. Sunday school classes usually precede a Sunday church service and are u ...

meetings here until the group grew enough to purchase a house on Herron Street. A minister (Christianity), minister was assigned in 1892, turning the group into an organized church.

Growth

In 1978 Frazer expanded to three Sunday morning worship services, and in 1992 began broadcasting live services on television. In 1990 Frazer had the largest attendance in both

and their Sunday morning worship of any

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

congregation in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. In 2000 Frazer once again increased the number of its morning worship services to six. The three new services use a contemporary worship style. A Spanish service was added in 2003 with the hiring of a full-time Hispanic minister. A new building was added in 2005. This new building, Wesley Hall, is a 2,000-seat atrium that currently houses the contemporary worship services. It also includes a bookstore, coffee shop,

baptistery In Church architecture, Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptisterium''; Greek language, Greek , 'bathing-place, baptistery', from , baptízein, 'to baptize') is the separate centrally planned ...

and children's ministry facilities.

Connection

In 2022 Frazer's congregation voted to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church and affiliate with the Free Methodist Church. The vote was ratified by the UMC Alabama-West Florida Annual Conference on June 14, 2022 and Frazer was received at that time by the Free Methodist Church. The clergy on staff also reaffiliated with the Free Methodist Church and were appointed back to Frazer Free Methodist Church by Bishop Keith Cowart of the FMC. At that time Frazer was one of only three Free Methodist congregations in Alabama. A four, in Phenix City, operated as a campus of a Columbus, Georgia, congregation.

Clergy

Dr. Chris Montgomery was appointed to serve as senior pastor in 2020. Previous leaders include Dr. John Ed Mathison, who retired from the position of senior pastor at Frazer in June 2008 after serving in that role for 36 years. In February 2010, Tim Thompson was appointed as the new senior pastor by Bishop Paul L. Leeland. Thompson grew up in the

church and is a former youth minister at Frazer. In early 2016, Thompson announced his retirement. In March 2016, Leeland appointed Larry Bryars to assume the role of senior pastor to take place the first week of July, 2016. In the summer of 2020 Rev Bryars retired and Bishop David Graves appointed Dr. Chris Montgomery to take the role of senior pastor of Frazer. Other clergy currently appointed to Frazer include Dr. Neil Epler, Rev. Mario Aman, and Dr. Jimmy Jeffcoat.{{cite web , url=https://www.awfumc.org/files/mcp_files/2020+appointment+book.pdf , title=2020 – 2021 Appointments , date= , website=Alabama-West Florida Annual Conference

References

External links

Frazer Free Methodist ChurchThe Free Methodist Way
Methodist megachurches in the United States Churches in Montgomery, Alabama Christian organizations established in 1889 Megachurches in Alabama 1889 establishments in Alabama Free Methodist Church Methodism in Alabama