The members of Bethany United Methodist Church, Barnesville, celebrated the congregation’s 100th anniversary yesterday with a special program in the church building attended by over 100 persons.

The Rev. William A. Pahls, pastor, traced the development of the rural parish, recalling it started as Bethany Evangelical Church and, as part of a merger, became the Evangelical United Brethern Church in 1946. The parish merged with the Methodist Church in 1968, deriving its present name.

The late Jacob Faust, a township resident, donated the Rush Township land on which the church was built.