Fife Memorial moving to new home

Fife Memorial United Methodist Church is moving to a new home. The final worship service at the 57-year-old church on the corner of Okmulgee Avenue and K street will be at 3 p.m. Sunday.

“At that time, members of Fife Memorial United Methodist Church will remember the past and rejoice in the knowledge that God’s blessing and guidance is with them as they look to the future in their new home,” said Joyce Deere, a church member.

The current building has been deteriorating and members have worked Indian taco sales, bean and chili dinners, ice cream float sales, the annual wild onion dinner, the Azalea Pow Wow, and many other fundraisers in the hopes of having a larger building, a parking lot, and grounds where the children can play outside, Deere said.

With assistance from Mvskoke (Creek) Nation, Fife Indian United Methodist Church will celebrate its dedication and ribbon cutting at 1100 Eufaula St. at 11 a.m. Dec. 5. Pastor is Rev. Jerry Byrd.

Known as “the little church on the corner,” the story of Fife Memorial starts with Oliver Neal, according to a media release.

Lee Daney, a devout Methodist minister, was driving through Muskogee when he saw how the Indians needed a church of their own. Seeing the welcome sign of First Methodist Church, he and his family stopped and entered the chapel and prayed that God establish a church for the Indians. Burdened for the Indians who had no church, Daney told Dr. W. U. Witt, who was general superintendent of Oklahoma Indian Mission churches for the Board of Missions of the Methodist Church in New York, who had sent for Neal.

Neal, a young ministerial student attending college at Ada, and Daney, employed at Bacone College, were on a mission. Soon Mrs. Sammy Corgan, member of First Methodist Church, joined them in God’s plan to start a church for the Indians.

They contacted many Indians every day for two weeks and then held a meeting at the House of Friendship of the Educational Building of First Methodist Church.

After the preaching service, Daney testified of his burden and Neal challenged them with the purpose of meeting. Twenty-seven of the 60 people attending came forward to become members of the first Indian church in Muskogee, and that was June 3, 1946.

The newly organized Muskogee Indian Mission continued to hold services in the House of Friendship until 1952 when a new church was built with money raised by the congregation, a gift of $10,000 by Exie Fife Shelton, and a donation by the Board of Missions of the Methodist Church.

When Bishop W. Angie Smith dedicated the church, the name Muskogee Indian Mission was changed to Fife Memorial Methodist Church in remembrance of the Rev. Elijah Fife, a Methodist minister and father of Nell Hardin and Exie Shelton.

Today, while the church members are predominately Native American and the church is a member of the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference, everyone welcome.

“The rich culture and Native American traditions are being passed down to the children and youth in the practice of Tribal songs, history lessons, and cultural events by Mvskoke (Creek), Choctaw, Cherokee, Euchee, Osage, and Kiowa members,” Deere said.

The church still has one of its charter members, Mary Briggs of Mvskoke (Creek) and Quapaw ancestry, in attendance at services and church events. Along with Briggs are today’s fourth and fifth generation members of the Barrows, Wilson and Fleming families who began attending in the 1950s and ’60s.

The First United Methodist Church, located just a few blocks away, has graciously loaned the use of its kitchen facilities to Fife Memorial in early spring when the church has its annual wild onion dinner, Deere said. In 2010, Fife is looking forward to cooking and hosting the event in its new home church.

Because the church was named for Rev. Elijah Fife, who was of Mvskoke (Creek) heritage, members agreed their new home should stay within the boundaries of the Mvskoke (Creek) Nation, according to the media release.

“Church members are very excited about their new home but also have mixed feelings about leaving their original building,” Deere said.

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