Historic memories of Fillmore County A lovely Methodist Church once stood on a hill in Preston, but where?

“Farewell To The Old Church”

by Aaron L. Sleyster, 1893

When we think of the church on the corner,

With a spire that points to the sky,

And a bell that will send forth its music,

With peals through the clear Sabbath sky,—

Our hearts are rebounding with gladness;

And we peer in the future, and see

A modern and beautiful structure,

That is—or so shortly shall be.

When we think of the grand auditorium,

With room for us all and to spare,

And a place for our friends and our neighbors

Who are willing our blessings to share.

Then we look to the future rejoicing,

And we feel that our longings are o’er;

For we soon shall enjoy a new temple

To worship the God we adore.

Yet, there may come a time in the future,

When our hearts will turn back in dismay,

To the dear little church on the hillside,

And the friends here assembled to-day—

And our thoughts will re-enter this chapel,

And our fancy shall people each pew,

With the forms and the faces we cherished;

The friends from the past, kind and true.

And the years may destroy the old building,

Or alter its gable and wall,

But our hearts will retain it forever,

The quaint little windows and all.

For here we awoke from our slumbers,

From the darkness of sin and of night,

And beheld, through our blessed Redeemer,

The first gleam of heaven’s own light.

Yes, here we unburdened our sorrow,

And cast down all worry and care

At the foot of the cross, and re-entered

The Kingdom of Heaven, through pray’r.

Here our hearts and our hands were united,

In a League, only three years ago,

And our number is weekly increasing,

To battle ‘gainst sin and its woe.

Farewell to the church of our childhood,

We leave but we cherish it still,

And to-night, as you cross the old threshold,

Oh drop one sad tear, on the sill,—

In remembrance of thousands of blessings,

That brightened the beautiful past,

With the light and the life of the Gospel,

The pearl that forever will last.

And when we are firmly transplanted,

In a place that will give us more room;

May we flourish and grow with new vigor,

And make preparations to bloom,—

Like a plant that is newly re-potted,

Sends forth its strong shoots in the sun;

And the glory and power of Heaven,

Will shower rich blessings thereon.”

This is just one more of Aaron L. Sleyster’s poems that conjures up in our minds, a few questions! Number one, where was this old Methodist church located in Preston? And number two, where did the congregation build the new sanctuary?

In the first stanza Sleyster refers to it as: “the church on the corner.” And in the third stanza he tells us it is: “the dear little church on the hillside.”

Obviously, the new church was built in a new location and the old church was left in its place because stanza four says: “And the years may destroy the old building…”

So I am hereby calling upon members of the Preston United Methodist Church to search their memories and of course, their photo albums, for any pertinent information we’d all love to know!

The Epworth League: “Originally existed from 1889-1939. After demolished mergers among Methodists in the 1930s, the Epworth League became known as the Methodist Youth Fellowship; it survived in 1994 as the United Methodist Youth Fellowship.”

So no picture accompanies today’s column, but with fingers crossed, maybe someone out there will surprise us with one!

By Dianne Ruud