Encountering odd names for old schoolhouses is pretty common in my research. Unfortunately, places of worship are usually another story. That’s why the history of Muncie’s biggest megachurch, Union Chapel, stands out. Believe it or not, it went by the bizarre name of Buzzard’s Glory when it was founded back in 1874! I wouldn’t think that circling turkey vultures would portend a bright future for a burgeoning chapel, but here we are.
I’ve often found that the early history of longstanding churches is rife with fascinating stories. Union Chapel/Buzzard’s Glory is no exception: in its early days, the church was served by itinerant preachers before it became part of a two-chapel circuit with the Methodist church in nearby Millgrove1. Its unusual name came from the sight of large birds roosting in the trees around the churchyard2. I love it when a weird detail connects a place to its rural surroundings so vividly!
My favorite story about the church comes from its earliest days. Way back when, the congregation’s first gathering place was a large cabin owned by a non-member but chosen for its spaciousness. When a traveling preacher arrived to deliver a sermon, its sparse furnishings were moved outside to serve as makeshift benches. The preacher had walked a great distance and was visibly exhausted after the service. Moved by his sermon, the congregants of Buzzard’s Glory shot a deer and harvested some corn! The result was a simple meal of venison and cornbread to restore the pastor’s strength before he continued on his way3.
It took thirty years before the church outgrew its original confines. In 1904, the congregation built a house of worship at the southwest corner of County Roads 1100-North and 550-East4. A parsonage was built at the southwest corner of 1200-North and Black Cemetery Road in 1964. Two years later, the church was expanded with a modern fellowship hall and educational wing5.
Attendance exploded. The congregation outgrew its new facilities and began holding services with more than two hundred attendees at Delta High School. By 1984, attendance ballooned to 800 people over two Sunday services! It crested at 930 people in 19886. That year, the church purchased and renovated the old Bill McCoy Ford dealership on North Broadway Avenue in Muncie.
The congregation expanded the former showroom into a thousand-seat auditorium and turned its service areas into offices and classrooms. Eventually, the old body shop was renovated into a fellowship and youth activities area7. Now, the campus is home to Union Chapel and its youth ministry, one-eighty. Its older sanctuary, north of Eaton, houses a separate church called Rejoice Ministry.
Union Chapel now welcomes around 1,300 attendees to each Sunday service, a huge leap from the modest congregation of eighty who gathered at the old Buzzard’s Grove building so long ago. Despite the growth and change, the original home of the congregation still stands in rural Niles Township.
Against all odds, the nearly 150-year-old Buzzard’s Grove Church continues to tell its story. Its tower, now clad in siding, still features a striking steeple crowned with four finials. I bet it would look magnificent with all the siding removed! Especially now that the buzzards are gone.
Sources Cited
1 Union Chapel (1995, April 28). The Muncie Star. p. 35.
2 Spurgeon, B. (1985, March 28). The Muncie Star. p. 4.
3 A True Story (1938, June 18). The Muncie Evening Press. p. 6.
4 (See footnote 1).
5 (See footnote 1).
6 Maynard, G. (1988, May 7). A Home at Last. The Muncie Star. p. 8.
7 (See footnote 6).
Very interesting history of Union Chapel
Thanks for reading!