Court Street United Methodist Church stands between two sets of railroad tracks.  We are a church where people from both sides of the track are welcome.  It has been said that this has taken place because we don’t know from which side of the tracks we come.  We realize that God loves all people.  We are created, male and female, in the image of God.  In Christ there is no Jew or Gentile, no male or female.

Court Street’s location in a downtown neighborhood—the Historic Neighborhood of Hattiesburg—is not easy to get to.  While quite a few folks have heard of Court Street, they really don’t know where our church building is located.  Hundreds pass Court Street Church every day, but think we are part of the Catholic school that sits across the street.  Somehow, through God’s grace, over our 100+ year history, we have survived—sometimes flourishing, sometimes hanging on like a stranded mountain climber with fingernails dug into the ledge on a cliff.

Yet if you do realize that Court Street is a church struggling to be faithful to Jesus Christ, and you do enter into the life of the community, what you will find is a place of unusual hospitality and extreme diversity.  On any given Sunday, gathered under one roof are white, black, Asian, rich, poor, educated, uneducated, socially elite and socially forgotten people. On weekdays, throughout the facility are infants and toddlers who are part of the Small Miracles Child Development Center (a ministry of the Edwards Street Fellowship Center UM mission agency).  The people of Court Street have opened the doors of the church to those needing space for the nurturing of mind, body and spirit.

Portions of the Court Street Creed, which is published each year in conjunction with the stewardship campaign, read:  “We are an open and inclusive church. Our members come from many cultures and socioeconomic groups and all are embraced….  We are a church that reaches out with deep compassion to help hurting people.”

Led by committed adults, children—“red and yellow, black and white”-- are fed weekly through Scouting activities, children’s choir, and character development through discipleship training. They acolyte during Sunday worship.  They are guided by mentors through confirmation (or baptismal inquiry) classes and into their baptism. Some are sprinkled, others immersed, and still others choose pouring. 

Children have evangelized their parents, who are now providing leadership in small-group young adult ministries.  An Economic Empowerment and Assistance Program has been developed for members who need no-interest loans to help overcome financial hardship, while maintaining dignity.  Our senior adults thrive under gifted lay leadership, as do our youth and music ministries.  We were selected by the Divinity School of Duke University to serve as a Teaching Congregation for their students.

Court Street Church, which was established in the year 1900, today still builds upon a vibrant history of making a difference in the service of the Triune God “between the tracks.”