Outlaw's Bridge History
The history of Outlaw's Bridge Universalist Church begins in 1824 with the birth of Julia Elizabeth Kent in Craven County, NC. In 1841, at the age of sixteen, Julia met and married Bryan Outlaw and moved with her new husband to a farm in Outlaw's Bridge, Duplin County, NC where the couple raised a family of six children.
In 1866 an epidemic swept through the area taking many lives including the lives of Julia's husband and two of her sons. Throughout this ordeal Julia, a woman of unflinching faith in God, found comfort in the words of traveling Universalist ministers who visited Duplin county preaching the revolutionary doctrine of universal salvation.
This new idea of universal salvation was so personally appealing to Julia that she decided to spread the word to others. On a Sunday morning in July of 1869 she began her ministry under the shade of a large tree at the corner of Outlaw's Bridge Road and NC Route 111. That first morning Julia taught a group of fourteen children. This gathering was truly remarkable in a staunchly Baptist and Methodist area where opposition to the freethinking ideas of Universalism was loudly voiced.
Despite continuing opposition, the Sunday School continued to grow throughout the years that followed. Classes were held in a schoolhouse that stood near the location of the present church.
As the children from Julia's original Sunday School grew to adulthood, they and others who had embraced Universalism decided it was time to build a permanent structure dedicated to their Universalist faith. In 1905 the Outlaw's Bridge Universalist Church was formally organized. In 1907 church members, donating their time and materials, began the construction of a white frame church building at the site of Julia's first Sunday School meeting. The land was deeded to the congregation by Charity Elizabeth Outlaw whose Universalist faith had been shaped by her attendance at the Sunday School.
The dedication ceremony for the new church took place on October 20, 1907. During the ceremony, a constitution which declared "the Universal Fatherhood of God, the spiritual leadership of Jesus and the brotherhood of all mankind" was adopted. In her letters reporting the day's events Charity Outlaw proudly notes that, in accordance with Universalist values recognizing the equality of the sexes, a woman, Patience Sutton, had been named as one of two deacons to the new church--an amazing choice in the year 1907. In 1937 Charity Elizabeth donated a second parcel of land next to the church for a parsonage which was also built by the church members. This new home for the minister and his family was "state of the art" in 1937 with running water, indoor plumbing and the luxury of heated bedrooms.
The congregation continued to thrive in their little white church until tragedy struck on Easter Sunday morning of 1950. The church's source of heat, a wood burning stove, had been lit early that morning in preparation for the Easter services. A spark from the stove started a small fire on the roof and was seen by a member who sounded the alarm.
As part of a very interesting article written for the June 1950 issue of The Bulletin (the newsletter of the Association of Universalist Women and friends which still meets regularly at the church) the minister Leonard C. Prater, reports that as the members saw the fire begin to spread, "All of us were stunned into silence but the people went right to work clearing the building. Even the furious blaze could not keep people from taking the pews, piano, pulpit, everything unattached, out of the building." The church's newly built annex started to burn and Rev. Prater continues, "Meanwhile, men were clearing the annex of furnishings. Even the windows and doors were taken out." "While all this was going on, others, including myself organized an effort to save the parsonage."
As you will see on your first visit to Outlaw's Bridge Universalist Church, the original parsonage was saved. Unfortunately by 11:30 of that Easter Sunday morning in 1950, the fire had been contained but the church had been consumed. In the spirit of Easter, services were held outdoors near the parsonage and that afternoon the members met to make plans for a new church to rise from the ashes and, according to Rev. Prater, agreed on at least one point--the next church would be built "of less inflammable materials."
The congregation set to work immediately and by 1951 the rebuilding was completed and the new church opened its doors. These same doors stand open today, ready to welcome you and your family into our church family at Outlaw's Bridge Universalist Church. The pioneering spirit of Julia Kent Outlaw and the legacy of those fearless firefighters of 1950 remains alive with us today as we look forward to sharing with you the freethinking, liberal religious beliefs that Unitarian Universalism has to offer. When you come to visit with us at Outlaw's Bridge Universalist Church our hope is that you will want to stay and join with us, becoming a part of our ongoing history and our continuing commitment to Julia Outlaw's dream of spreading the good news of universal salvation.