Byron UMC - Northwest

Methodism was in this area as early as 1825 when Shiloh M.E. Church was built three miles southeast of the present Byron community. A log structure on Old Ft. Valley Road was the school and the first Methodist church in Byron with circuit riders holding services irregularly. By 1887, the log building was replaced by a while frame one; Rev. Ignatius Few Griffith was the pastor. In 1891, Rev. T.D. Strong organized the first Sunday school and his wife, Annie Bagley Strong, organized the Woman's Missionary Society. In 1922, the church moved adjacent to the business section and built a red brick church patterned after Mulberry Street, Macon. The church name was changed to Byron Methodist. Fire destroyed all but the walls of the sanctuary and seriously damaged the education unit (built 1957) on Sunday, January 30, 1966. In 1967, eight months and five days later, they held service in the new sanctuary, the old becoming an education unit.
 
In 1976, the UMYF worked on projects to help with the purchase of a new Chevrolet church bus. In 1978-1979, the Byron/Jordan Chapel Charge was Circuit of the Year. During 1978, stained glass windows were dedicated and a Children's Chapel Program, two Bible study groups, and a bi-monthly Men's Prayer Breakfast were started. On October 7, 1984, the church celebrated its 106th anniversary.  In 1991 the old Byron Post Office was purchased and converted to the Youth Activity Center. In 1998, the Barnes property was purchased for a church administrative office building and the previous offices were remodeled into a choir room and adult Sunday school room. In 1998, the church started the Peach Blossom Metric Century, an annual 31-mile bike race which raises funds for youth missions. In August 1999, work on the new annex was begun and on May 21, 2000, Bishop Richard Looney consecrated the Byron Community Center containing a commercial kitchen and a stage/conference area seating 400.