It was 100 years ago this year (2007) that David Sampson, a Quaker evangelist, planted a church in a house on Oneida Street in Graham that became the Graham Monthly Meeting.
     Graham Monthly Meeting was established in Graham, Alamance County, North Carolina, by authority of the Western Quarterly Meeting of the North Carolina Yearly Meeting of Friends on August 19, 1907. The following is quoted from the first minutes recorded as an unofficial meeting for business in fourth month 1907. “Early in first month, David E. Sampson and wife, Sallie C. Marshburn Sampson, felt called of the Lord to settle in Graham, North Carolina, and labor with the Friends there.”
     They began by holding gospel meetings and visiting families and soon a Sabbath School was opened in a house on factory hill on Oneida Street. Meetings for worship were also regularly held in the same location. On September 16, 1907, it was reported that a lot had been purchased for the Church and lumber was being sawed. The first service in the new Meeting House on Parker Street was held December 12, 1909. The mortgage on the building was paid off September 21, 1916. In 1922, the Sunday School Rooms at the back of the church were completed during the ministry of John Permar. An Educational Building was completed in 1947 under the leadership of Pastor Robert O. Crow. This building was erected as a memorial to David Sampson, founder, and is known as the David Sampson Building. It was dedicated September 21, 1947. In 1955, under the leadership of Pastor Dallas Rush, an addition to the David Sampson Building met the need for more Sunday School space. This building still stands as the fellowship hall behind the present meeting house.
     The building program for our present church plant was launched December 2, 1956, with Phil Dixon giving the first $50. On May 8, 1966, under the ministry of James Marion, the ground breaking service for our new church plant was held. The church structure progressed under the guidance of our Pastor Blake Wright and the Building Committee, headed by Carl E. Jones and Daniel Allen. The first service in our new church building was held January 15, 1967. Dedication services were held April 2, 1967. The mortgage was paid off October 6, 1974.
     Our present structure consists of a sanctuary with a seating capacity of 370, two offices, and two overflow rooms. The education wing contains a library, the pastor’s Study, a copy room, and six Sunday School rooms. The David Sampson Building (fellowship hall) contains a parlor, a large meeting room, one Sunday School room, and a kitchen.
     Ground was broken for a new parsonage in the fall of 2001 under the ministry of Mark Ryman. The parsonage sits on the old Davis lot to the north of the sanctuary on Main Street. Pastor Ryman and his family moved in on February 28, 2002. The parsonage, by God’s grace and the commitment of His Friends in Graham, was completely paid off within a few months.
     Since our last Homecoming, a playground was built to the memory of Dawn Smith Mullins. It sits to the north of the Meeting House between the sanctuary and the parsonage. The playground is a testimony of what God is doing here. Dozens of children once again grace this church.
     The Friends in Graham have been served by nineteen ministers during their one hundred-year history. David Sampson was its founder and first pastor. Our second pastor, Margaret Hackney (1911-1912), ministered long before women were called to preach. Although some Quaker women began performing pastoral responsibilities as early as the 1870s, Hackney’s ministry in Graham was unusual nonetheless. John Permar is notable in that he served two pastorates here for a total of more than two decades. Nelson Puffenbarger served the longest continuous term, for nearly 13 years. Mark Ryman, the present pastor, is now in his eighth year.
     Our Homecoming celebrations are always the second Sunday in September, making our next Homecoming September 14, 2008. We hope you will reserve the date and be with us again. If God so wills, a lot will more will happen here between now and then. After all the past is ours but the future is His.

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