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       In the past few months we have heard tales of drama, heroism, and humor on the part of the people of Dillon Chapel. But one thread of warning runs through these remembrances: people remember the unkind word, the un-Christian act, the thoughtless deed, long after the good has been erased from their memory!
       Several people interviewed clearly remembered one minister, a vain, handsome man, who in a struggling community "was always dressed fit to kill." He had a sweet, gentle wife whom the community took under its wing. When she wanted to go home for Christmas, they were unable to get gas to make the trip because of rationing. One kind-hearted member of the congregation gave the preacher some of his gas-stamps and told him "to take that little woman home to be with her family over the holidays." Instead, the preacher put her on a bus--and kept the coveted gas stamps for himself!
       Another minister had a reputation for an outstanding temper. One boy, about 16 years old, was sitting on the front pew during a sermon. Behind him two boys were talking. The preacher stopped in the middle of a sentence, pointed a finger at the boy, and said: "Hey, you! Stop that talking or leave riqht now. I'm not going to put up with that kind of disruption." Confused, the kid turned around to see who was talking.
       "Don't turn around. I'm talking to you." That was almost 60 years ago, and it is the main thing he remembers about that preacher. "It was the last time I ever heard him preach," he said. "I. never went back while he was there."
       These object lessons are by no means confined to the ministry. The church once split over whether the piano was to be upstairs or downstairs.
       One dedicated teacher was locked out of the downstairs along with her children when two of the trustees disagreed on having a children's service. "They weren't very nice to me," she says. "They acted like they owned the church." The memory still rankles, decades later.
       Now all these people were Christians --dedicated to serving God--they no doubt preached many fine sermons, prayed, worshipped visited and did other things required of their Christian vocation yet how are they remembered? Not for the many godly acts--but for the one very human indiscretion! Unfair? Maybe. But it is human nature to recall the wrongs against us. Therein is the lesson for all Christian witnesses.
       Four hundred years ago the Bard of Avon, William Shakespeare said it best: "The evil that men do live after, while the good is oft interred with their bones."

       All but the youngest in the community remember Aunt Beulah's faith and service to Dillon Chapel. She was an active Christian and supporting member of this church for her entire life. Aunt Beulah gave herself to service in every capacity that was entrusted to her. Among other things she was an officer in the WSCS which was a forerunner of the United Methodist Women, a member of the Administrative Board and a long time Sunday School Teacher.
       My earliest memory of Dillon Chapel recalls attending Mrs. Paugh's Sunday School Class. At the end of every session we all put our hands on her Bible and sang "The B-I-B-L-E" as had students in her class for generations. Once leaders considered realigning the Sunday School classes and assigning new teachers. When this was presented to Mrs. Paugh, she said that she would teach until the end and she did except for a few years after her health forced her to be a shut-in. Evelyn Eden remembers that Aunt Beulah was her teacher when she was a little girl. Mrs. Paugh set an example for several generations of children.
       It seems the church has always struggled financially. Many remember Aunt Beulah asking for donations to the church by going door to door. The ladies of the church often gathered to make quilts which were sold to help the church and Aunt Beulah was there. The church has always made applebutter to help with expenses and Aunt Beulah was there. According to Evelyn Eden, Aunt Beulah was her Sunday School teacher and always there to help.
       Aunt Beulah loved to testify. Though her testimony seldom varied, she was always among the first to enthusiastically testify. She talked about the little white church by the side of the road and what it had meant to her. She liked to tell of her prayers for her family and how they had changed when they were converted. Her son-in-law, Hugh Lamb, even became a Methodist minister and served until his death.
       When there was no piano Aunt Beulah would lead the singing. Charlie Barbour recalls a time when Aunt Beulah was returning from vacation and arrived at church late. When she came through the doors, the congregation was singing "Dwelling in Beulah Land." Mrs. Paugh was overjoyed and testified that the group was welcoming her back to her church with that song.
       Commitments like Aunt Beulah Paugh's are what God requires and what churches depend on. There are many who would say that Dillon Chapel might not have survived without the tireless faithful service of Aunt Beulah Paugh.

CENTENNIAL MINUTES
HISTORY OF DILLON CHAPEL U.M.C. (on back of Centennial plates)

November 19, 1989 - by Judy Pullen

       In the beginning Dillon Chapel existed only in the hearts of the people of Davis Creek who gathered to worship God.
       In 1859, Rev. John T. Johnson of Wayne was the first pastor, later serving as Chaplain of the 8th Virginia Cavalry, C.S.A. After the Civil War, he resumed monthly services, followed by other circuit riders. In 1889, under the guidence of Rev. Adam Given and Rev. Marlin Blankenship, the first little white chapel was erected. The land was pledged by Reece Dillon before his death in 1888, and the church named in his memory. The present brick church was erected in May 1951, under the leadership of Rev. Doran Houston, and expanded in 1978, by Rev. Charles Pullins.
       No matter where the people of Davis Creek have met to worship - in their homes, barns, under the trees, in the white chapel or brick church - God has always been in their midst.

       While Rev. M. G. Flowers served Dillon Chapel only one year, he had a long, illustrous career in the Methodist Church. He was converted at the old 9th Avenue Methodist Church, and by the time he was 15, he knew he wanted to be a preacher--but he didn't know how to go about reaching his goal, as his father had plans for him to take up a skilled trade.
       Just after graduation from high school, he rode his bike to Morris Harvey College at Barboursville and when he left, he was signed up for the following semester. He still didn't know where the money would come from.
       After learning of his son's actions, his father was silent through supper and slept on it overnight. The next morning as his father left for work, he handed M. G. Flowers half a semester's tuition (he never did figure out how his father knew the exact amount of the tuition) and said to him: "You've made a committment--you will have to keep it." After that his parents supported his decision wholeheartedly.
       After that, doors were opened. After his first year, he made his own way as a janitor/maintenance man. After his second year, he accepted his first charge at Kermit--his career was off and running. He preached until his retirement 50 years later. Kermit was his "baptism by fire." At the time he arrived there, there was an election day gunfight that left three men dead. It was a violent place and time--but if a mountain man liked you, he would support you through thick and thin!
       At Omar, he had in his congregation, members of Devil Anse Hatfield's clan--including his daughter known as Aunt Betty. The famous feud, only one of many in the area, was the responsibility of Hatfield's sons, not Devil Anse, a good Baptist, who moved to get out of the bloodshed.
       In addition to Southern West Virginia, he served 16 years at the Paw Paw area of Northern West Virginia, the Lewisburg area and just across the border in Kentucky. In his "spare time" he finished his Master's Degree and all but nine hours of his Ph.D. at W. Va. University. From the first charge he enjoyed preaching and he liked people. He found people in the different parts of the state to be quite diverse, but each had something unique to offer.
       Although he served only one year at Dillon Chapel he was comfortable in its parsonage and has only fond memories of its people, whom he found to be honest and straight-forward and willing to help him in a troubled period of his live. At that time he served four churches in five years. His wife was ill with a nervous disorder, and he was forced to spend much time at home. He had to rely on the lay people of the church. He particularly remembers Jeffie Nash, the Paughs, Charlie Wallace, and Alec Nash who often chaired committees or held prayer meetings in his absence.
       He has never regretted the choice he made as a 15 year old, or the rash act of signing up for college before he had the money. But with the help of others, a way was made for him to serve God. He does wish he could have served at Dillon at a better period of his life and that he might have had the opportunity to serve longer among people whom he liked and admired.