Mount Pleasant Lutheran Church

Mt. Pleasant Lutheran Church was organized around 1820 during a time of disharmony in many North Carolina congregations, which led to the formation of the Tennessee Synod. Some members of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, then Graves Church, chose to become part of the Tennessee Synod and formed Mt. Pleasant. The organization took place in Fogleman’s Schoolhouse, which was located near the church’s present site off N.C. Highway 49. The charter roll showed twenty-seven adult members of the following families: Isley, Moser, Sharpe, Mitchell, Noah, Fogleman and Johnson. Later, the Robinson, Murray, Spoon, Steele and Garrett families joined. The Reverend Philip Henkel, who was instrumental in organizing the Tennessee Synod, was among the church’s earliest pastors.

The small congregation met in a log school building and was called Fogleman Schoolhouse Church in early minutes of the Tennessee Synod. It was known as the Schoolhouse Church until around 1845 when the congregation purchased land from the estate of Peter Moser at a cost of $10 and built a log church, which was named Mt. Pleasant. This tract adjoined property earlier donated by George Fogleman. An additional half-acre of land was acquired from George Kimrey in 1854 at a cost of $6 for the church to have a cemetery. Prior to that time, and even after, many of the members of Mt. Pleasant who died were buried at St. Paul’s because of family connections that still existed.

The membership of Mt. Pleasant rejoined that of St. Paul’s on December 31, 1978, by way of a merger, under the direction of Reverend Richard J. Miller and officiated by Reverend David Martin, Secretary of the N.C. Synod. The church and cemetery became the property of the combined congregations and was renamed Mt. Pleasant Chapel. The current frame church, built in 1908, is still used for services three times per year. A memorial service on the fourth Sunday in May, a homecoming service on the third Sunday in September and an 8 p.m. Christmas Eve service. Feel free to step back in history and worship with us!