{"id":148,"featured":0,"modified":"2026-04-17 19:48:35","latitude":38.3872640000000018289938452653586864471435546875,"longitude":-85.84525600000000622458173893392086029052734375,"title":"Atkins Chapel United Methodist Church","subtitle":"","fullsize":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/4fdd9104454ffbf28f59ca994bce9167.jpg","address":"","all_locations":[],"zoom":6,"creator":["Carl Creason","Hannah O'Daniel","Katherine Gann","Daniel Michael","Leanna Smith"],"description":"Atkins Chapel is one of the oldest places of worship in southern Indiana.  In 1822, Jacob Antrim, a United Brethren circuit-riding preacher, organized a church in Lafayette Township, immediately north of New Albany, in Floyds Knobs.  The congregation met for twenty years in a small log building near the intersection of Banet and Balmer Fenwick roads.  The United Brethren grew out of the Great Awakening.  A loosely organized movement, it took root in German-speaking churches in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and Ohio.  Antrim, recalled as “a good signer, an ingenious preacher, [and] a great exhorter,” brought the faith to southern Indiana, where it spread among early settlers.  The congregation of the “Knobs Church,” as the Lafayette Township group became known, declined after a time and eventually disbanded.<br />\r\n<br />\r\nIn 1845, John A. Atkins, his wife, and several other settlers organized a new church in Lafayette Township.  Atkins, a minister and farmer, descended from early settlers.  His brothers, Henry and William, also joined the church, and Thomas Conner served as the first minister.  The congregation met in a log church formerly used by group of Swedenborgians.  This building served the congregation for about a quarter century, when it decided to build a new, more modern structure.  John Atkins donated land on Atkins Road, directly opposite the site of the Swedenborgian church, and members of the congregation and neighbors erected “a neat, white frame building.”  Because of Atkins’s influence, the structure came to be called “Atkins Chapel.”<br />\r\n<br />\r\nAlthough an 1882 account described Atkins Chapel as “not a strong church,” the congregation grew over time.  In 1908, members opted to build a new house of worship.   Erected at a cost of $2,500, the new structure measured 24 x 36 feet and with an adjoining vestibule.  On August 23, 1908, between 300 and 400 people attended a dedication ceremony led by Reverend J. P. Roberts of Indianapolis.  Describing the event for the Religious Telescope, the United Brethren newspaper, a short while later, Roberts claimed he had “never seen a congregation in as limited circumstances . . . give quote so freely and cheerfully.”  By the end of the day, the church had raised nearly $700, a sum adequate to sustain its activities for some time.<br />\r\n<br />\r\nIn 1946, the liberal wing of the United Brethren merged with the Evangelical Association, a Pennsylvania-based group of churches with similar beliefs, to form the Evangelical United Brethren Church.  In 1968, this organization merged with Methodist Church to form the United Methodist Church (UMC).  Atkins Chapel is today known as Atkins Chapel United Methodist.  In 1956, the congregation built an annex and enlarged the church basement to provide new classrooms and a fellowship hall.<br />\r\n<br />\r\nThe late twentieth-century history of Atkins Chapel is closely associated with Reverend Adrian Struble, who served as minster for twenty-four years before retiring in June 1990.  Struble, then aged 99, was believed to be the oldest active United Methodist minister in Indiana.","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"","lede":"","website":"","related_resources":["J. T. Roberts, “Dedication in Indiana Conference,” <em>Religious Telescope</em> (Dayton, OH), Sept. 2, 1908, p. 15.","“Atkins Chapel Church to Observe Founding,” <em>New Albany Tribune</em>, Sept. 14, 1972, p. 3.","“Atkins Chapel Dedicated,” <em>Courier-Journal</em>, Aug. 24, 1908, p. 10.","James S. Wiseheart, “History of Atkins Chapel United Methodist Church,” 1981. Vertical file “Churches – Methodist,” New Albany-Floyd County Public Library, New Albany, IN.","Henry Adams Thompson, <em>Our Bishops: A Sketch of the Origin and Growth of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ</em>, rev. ed. (Dayton, OH: O. B. Publishing House, 1904)."],"factoids":[],"files":{"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/4fdd9104454ffbf28f59ca994bce9167.jpg":{"id":1142,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Atkins Chapel United Methodist Church","description":"One of the oldest congregations in southern Indiana, Atkins Chapel exemplifies the strength of the United Methodist faith in the lower Midwest.<br />\r\nImage courtesy of Daniel Vivian.  | Daniel Vivian | 2015 | Daniel Vivian ","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/square_thumbnails/4fdd9104454ffbf28f59ca994bce9167.jpg"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/9f91ac60767f3b06889ebab8cb357ee7.jpg":{"id":1143,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Cemetery","description":"Weathered headstones are a tangible reminder of the long history of the Atkins Chapel congregation.<br />\r\nImage courtesy of Daniel Vivian.  | Daniel Vivian | 2015 | Daniel Vivian","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/square_thumbnails/9f91ac60767f3b06889ebab8cb357ee7.jpg"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/86ff6d182198297d831e0df64d9be406.jpg":{"id":1144,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Atkins Chapel","description":"Located in Lafayette Township, Atkins Chapel lies about nine miles north of New Albany.<br />\r\nImage courtesy of Daniel Vivian.  | Daniel Vivian | 2015 | Daniel Vivian ","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/square_thumbnails/86ff6d182198297d831e0df64d9be406.jpg"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/ac793e3110dec64395b1b8ea71381a6f.jpg":{"id":1145,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Johannes Moser Grave","description":"Names of early settlers are prominently represented among the burials. Shown here is the grave of Johannes Moser, a Swiss immigrant born in 1832.<br />\r\nImage courtesy of Daniel Vivian.  | Daniel Vivian | 2015 | Daniel Vivian ","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/square_thumbnails/ac793e3110dec64395b1b8ea71381a6f.jpg"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/e151f47d8bb4620406146d6615818f7f.jpg":{"id":1146,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Cemetery","description":"The church cemetery is filled with headstones from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.<br />\r\nImage courtesy of Daniel Vivian.  | Daniel Vivian | 2015 | Daniel Vivian. ","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/square_thumbnails/e151f47d8bb4620406146d6615818f7f.jpg"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/3e248a3bff795d1490421e17b330347b.jpg":{"id":1147,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Cemetery","description":"Atkins Chapel sits amid the rolling farmland of Floyds Knobs.<br />\r\nImage courtesy of Daniel Vivian.  | Daniel Vivian | 2015 | Daniel Vivian. ","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/square_thumbnails/3e248a3bff795d1490421e17b330347b.jpg"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/68d4b3b028fbc6a59189c1b39536905b.jpg":{"id":1168,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Adrian Struble","description":"Reverend Adrian Struble served as minister of Atkins Chapel for 24 years, from 1966-1990. <br />\r\nImage courtesy of New Albany-Floyd Public Library Digital Collection.  | New Albany-Floyd County Public Library Digital Collection  | 1993 | New Albany-Floyd Public Library Digital Collection ","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/square_thumbnails/68d4b3b028fbc6a59189c1b39536905b.jpg"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/67bc0a1ab20d659cf7eca455d3f62524.jpg":{"id":1169,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Atkins Chapel","description":"Atkins Chapel as seen from the north, 2008.<br />\r\nImage courtesy of New Albany-Floyd County Public Library Digital Collection | New Albany-Floyd County Public Library Digital Collection.  | 2008","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/square_thumbnails/67bc0a1ab20d659cf7eca455d3f62524.jpg"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/592ab6fbc19fc806b6661b5f4d65d1ea.jpg":{"id":1170,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Stained glass","description":"A stained glass window honors John A. Atkins. In 1845, Atkins, his wife, and several settlers organized a United Brethren church in Floyds Knobs.<br />\r\nImage courtesy of New Albany-Floyd County Public Library Digital Collections. | New Albany-Floyd County Public Library Digital Collection  | 1983","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/square_thumbnails/592ab6fbc19fc806b6661b5f4d65d1ea.jpg"}}}