In 1805, Elisha W. Bowman was sent as a Missionary to Louisiana by Bishops Whatcoat and Asbury. From New Orleans, he traveled through the swamps, up and down bayous to the "Appelousas" territory, (as it was called in the conference minutes) arriving in late 1805. He organized a Methodist Society in Opelousas early in 1806, which was, as near as can be ascertained, the first Methodist Society in Louisiana. In August of 1806, Learner Blackman visited Bowman and together they administered the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper to the Methodist Society. On January 6, 1847, the Louisiana Annual Conference first met and organized in the Opelousas Methodist Church. With the building of the present Santuary in 1955, the name of the church was changed to Louisiana Memorial Methodist Church in keeping with the historical significance in the Louisiana Annual Conference. It was dedicated by Bishop Aubrey G. Walton in November, 1960.

*In the immortal words of Mr. Earl Taylor, beloved member of our church, "The oldest Methodist church west of the Mississippi."

We at Louisiana Memorial wish to invite you to our church here in Opelousas, Louisiana. We meet for Sunday school every Sunday at 9:00 am. and church services beginning right afterwards at 10:00 am. We would be honored to have you visit our church. For those families who have young children, we have a wonderful nursery supervised by a full time nursery worker who loves children. For those families who have children from 7th to the 12th grade, we have a UMYF (United Methodist Youth Fellowship) meeting every Sunday night at 5:30pm. Some of the activites that we do here at UMYF are games, discussions, devotionals and other fun activities, all in a good, clean christian atmosphere. If you need any further information, do not hesitate to contact us at Louisiana Memorial, our office hours are from 8:30 am. to 12 noon, Monday through Friday. Thank you for visiting our web site, we hope to hear from you in the near future.

Have a Blessed day!

We're glad you "surfed in"! This page is currently under construction by Scott Andrepont and will be updated in the near future to provide you with a snapshot of some of the exciting activities planned in our church! Keep tuned!

This page has been blessed by visits of wonderful folks such as yourself!