A local congregation memorialized a local pioneer of Methodism by taking his name, and this year the church members will celebrate 100 years as Gibson Memorial United Methodist Church.
Special events including a gospel concert featuring members of the Gaither Homecoming family are planned to commemorate the church’s heritage, said the Rev. Mitchell Cochran of Gibson Memorial.
The church originally was named South Vicksburg Methodist Episcopal Church, South, said church member Bobbie Beyers Edwards who has been researching church history.
In 1914, the congregates changed the name to honor Tobias Gibson.
Gibson is considered to be the father of Methodism in Mississippi and was the first Methodist missionary circuit rider to the Mississippi Territory.
Gibson Memorial UMC began as an outreach ministry of Crawford Street Methodist Church for people who lived south of town, said Cochran, and its earliest roots began in a room in the old U.S. Marine Hospital on Shorter Mulberry, which is now Oak Street.
The site of the hospital was near the former Tuminello’s Restaurant.
“The use of the room was granted to a band of Crawford Street Methodist Church members and South Vicksburg workers for the purpose of organizing an afternoon Sunday school, and because of its nearness to the railroad shops to the Illinois Central Railroad, many of its members and leaders had been railroad men,” Edwards said.
On May 9, 1887, trustees of Crawford Street bought a lot on what was the east side of Shorter Mulberry where a church was built, Edwards said and later deeded the property to South Vicksburg Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
Two years later the church had 275 members, according to church records.
Of those members, Mary Ann Rigby had been one of the church’s largest donors, Edwards said.
“She gave 240 cherry colored folding chairs,” Edwards said.
Other donors included John Curphey and James Mundy, lumber dealers who gave the altar rail, and William Klein who donated the pulpit.

The historical information was obtained from documents including quarterly conference records, old scrapbooks and memoirs, Edwards said.
In 1902, the church sold their facility and built a new church at the current location of St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church and renamed their congregation as Washington Street Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
Again a name change followed the move and in honor of the pastor who had started Crawford Street United Methodist Church, the congregation decided to name the church Gibson Memorial Methodist Church, said Cochran.
Edward’s research revealed that a proposal was made to move the grave of Tobias Gibson to the new church, but instead the remains were moved to the lawn of Crawford Street UMC.
The final name change — Gibson Memorial United Methodist Church — occurred in 1968 with the national creation of the United Methodist Church.
Gibson Memorial UMC remained on Washington Street until 1998, when it moved to 335 Oak Ridge Road.
Edwards said many of the ministries started while the church was on Washington Street are still carried on including a Sunday morning radio broadcast, Meals on Wheels, the annual Easter Egg Factory.
The 100th year anniversary celebration will begin at 3 p.m. Sept. 20 and will include worship, singing, sharing and remembering, said Cochran. The guest speaker will be the Rev. Cary Stockett, pastor at Crawford Street UMC.
A barbeque dinner will be served at 4:30 p.m. and will include pulled pork, smoked turkey, potato salad, baked beans and homemade ice cream. The free event will also include a gospel concert scheduled for 6 p.m. with Reggie and Ladye Love Smith, who have been part of the Gaither Homecoming family for over a decade.
At 10:30 a.m. Sept 20 the Rev. Bert Scott will be the guest minister.
“Bert was a child and youth of the church,” said Cochran. A potluck dinner and fellowship will follow at noon. For more information, call 601-636-2605.