Ramer Methodist Church is currently in its third incarnation. The only issue within the church is the debate that rages about the exact nature of the entrance to the first sanctuary which was housed within a wood frame clapboard structure. Although there are paintings of the church portraying the best memories of those who saw the original structure, the debate centers around whether or not there were separate stairs to the front doors or if there was a single set of steps leading up to the twin doors of the sanctuary entrance; unfortunately, there are no known pictures of the original building which burned to the ground early in the 20th Century.
A second clapboard sanctuary was erected at the corner of Hobbie Road and Highway 94 with an east-west orientation. This building was later added onto and bricked. Then in the 1990's, the church remodeled again to enlarge the sanctuary and turn it north-south. Later, more classrooms, offices and a hall for entertaining the family of faith were added.
When the church was organized in 1850, she was not the only Methodist church in Ramer, which was then known as Athens. (The community of Athens was forced to change its name when the US Postal Service initiated the zip code order of numbering postal stations.) Along with the Ramer Methodist Episcopal Church there was also a Methodist Protestant Church which later merged with the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Methodists have played a large role in the life of the Athens/Ramer community. To this day, there are people who are proud to call themselves Methodists in one of Alabama's historic small communities of South Montgomery County.
A number of anecdotal experiences have occurred through the years to bring a smile to the faces of one and all. One example of this was the occasion when a church member built a van body for his log truck in order to bring people to church. He created a special body that could be added to his log truck on Sundays to bus people to and from church and then removed on Mondays to resume his logging business.
Today the church seeks to inspire this same sort of creative genius in order to introduce Christ to our friends and neighbors. Our goal is to be here until our Lord returns.
