First-Centenary United Methodist Church, created by the 1967 union of the two oldest Methodist congregations in the city, takes part of its history from the stew that existed in Chattanooga following Union troop occupation in 1863.
When the Union troops arrived, they were accompanied by chaplains, some of whom were northern Methodist pastors. Further, according to Dr. Steve Byrum’s “First-Centenary United Methodist Church: A Sesquicentennial History,” the troops were joined by members of The Christian Commission, who traveled with the northern armies and worked to serve whatever needs might arise.
To that mix were added those in the area who already held anti-secessionist sentiments and had been loyal to the Union, or at least neutral, in the war to date.
By war’s end in 1865, it is thought Timothy Stanley Stivers, a Methodist minister from Ohio and part of The Christian Commission doing work among the sick and wounded, already had been meeting with a new group of believers.
So, that same year, according to “Highlights of a Historic Century” by Margaret E. Petty, the First Methodist Episcopal Church (North) was established in a building on the site of the current Hamilton County Courthouse.