In a little corner near Canton, there stands one of the oldest churches in Mississippi. Its parsonage, bought in 1836, was the first of its kind in the region. The institution itself dates back to 1835 and the church’s building to 1892. Many believe the church to be the namesake of the local town of Sharon. Its cemetery is occupied by many loyal Methodist families, as well as one of Mississippi’s earliest unsolved mysteries: the curious grave of Sarah N. Burns. Sharon has survived the Civil War and the fall of two local colleges. After the railroads came and went, taking much of the town’s population with them, still Sharon stands.
Rayford Woodrick, church historian and pastor of Sharon United Methodist Church, said, “It was organized in 1835. The cemetery has a grave that dates back to 1838. Somewhere along the line, the first church burned. This building that we’re still using was built and consecrated in May of 1892. That building is 124 years old. It looks exactly the same, except that we have added a ramp.”
The historicity of the church is undisputed. Its first pastors were circuit-riders, men who rode the countryside to minster to multiple churches at once, while also selling Bibles to local families and communities. The Bible that currently sits on Sharon’s pulpit was bought from a circuit-rider and later donated to the church.
If the grounds of the church and its parsonage look familiar, one may recall that Sharon and its parsonage were filming locations for PBS’s made-for-television movie The Ponder Heart, based on Eudora Welty’s novel. The white-washed church and parsonage, magnolia trees, and gray headstones provide a classic backdrop to echo the nostalgic South.
At one time, there was a girl’s college and a boy’s college at Sharon. Eventually, they were combined and moved elsewhere, but the institutions left their mark on the church and its cemetery. One of the students was buried within Sharon’s cemetery and her grave is a source of great puzzlement for local historians. Sarah N. Burns was listed as one of the students of Sharon Female College in 1843-44 and was said to have been sent by her family from South Carolina to attend school there.
Her inscription reads: “The pretended illness of which she died was caused by mismanagement / and the afflictions and sufferings of pretended friends.” No further explanation has been offered beyond a few uncertain theories as to the true nature of her death. Like many old haunts of the South, Sharon has its own mysteries and astonishments to offer.
Also within the cemetery are graves of illustrious members of the Methodist church, including Dr. Birdsong W. M. Minter, who donated the land upon which the church was built. Families who have been a part of Sharon for decades are represented there too, such as the Byars and Divines. The little church hails the unwearied strength of the Christian faith, but also stands for the importance of Mississippi’s local history. More than that, Sharon represents constancy in a protean world.
“I’m starting my sixth year as the pastor,” said Woodrick. “At a little church like this, with no programs, my primary job is to plan the services and preach. Right now, we see ourselves as providing a religious presence in the community, almost like a community worship center. But we don’t just want to be a presence, we also want to look toward the future. We are holding on, not just for the sake of tradition, but also for the sake of future congregations. We want to be there so that the church can come alive again, should the community begin to grow once more.”
Sharon United Methodist Church has one service at 5:30 PM that takes place on the second Sunday of every month.
