Pleasant Massey (“Pleas”) oversaw the building of the current sanctuary, about 1900. On the right is Pleasant; the other three are his siblings.
Methodists eat! Especially potluck. Here the congregation enjoys a potluck dinner in the cabin. (“The cabin” is the building behind the sanctuary that serves as our fellowship hall. No one knows how it came to be called the cabin.)
Jack Wimberley drew up plans for the cabin (in the 1960s?). This picture shows him and his wife Barbara (Miss Annie’s daughter). Barbara still attends Massey’s, as do their daughter Debra and her husband Steve Andrews.
Annie Elliot King, great-niece of Pleasant Massey, worked for years to get Massey’s Chapel recognized as a historic building by Durham.
At one point Durham County wanted to seize the land for a road. The county representative said, “It’s so small.” Miss Annie replied, “Whenever two or three are gathered in My name, there am I in the midst of them.” The land was not seized, and the building received a historic designation in 1989.
Members of Massey’s Chapel participated in a variety of service projects over the years, including Crop Walk and Habitat for Humanity. This picture shows the sign when Massey’s hosted the Korean Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church (circa 2010).
A "lighthouse church" provides a welcoming and supportive space for individuals and groups displaced by church closures or disaffiliations but who wish to remain in the United Methodist denomination. As a physical lighthouse guides sailors through storms, a lighthouse church symbolizes a guiding light and safe passage for United Methodists navigating the pain of church closures and disaffiliations.
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