In response to the Protestant revival sweeping the country during the early 19th century, a traveling preacher from Virginia arrived in the township of Laurensville in 1819 to spread the gospel. He inspired fifteen men and women to organize themselves as the “Methodist Society of Friends”, later becoming the Methodist Episcopal Church.

     As there was no church building within the limits of the village, the society members held prayer meetings in the homes of various members. There is no definitive listing of the original members, but family histories record the names of Elizabeth Vance Word, a widow, and her twelve-year-old daughter, Sarah, as being in the group. “Mother Word”, as she was known in the Laurens community, became a pillar of the local Methodist church until her death in 1851.

     In addition to meeting in the homes of members, prior to 1824 this Methodist group also met in the only church building in town, the “Old Rock Church”. Located on East Main Street near the former railroad depot, the building belonged to the ARP Church and was also known as the Seceder Church.

     The Methodist Society continued to grow in Laurens, so in 1824 they built a small wooden church said to have a high spire and a tall pulpit. Now long gone, this structure was located on West Main Street across from the present-day Gray Funeral Home. Members of this early church took their religion very seriously with ironclad, prescribed practices. There was fasting; apparel worn to services by women was simple and modest; no jewelry was allowed; and no musical instruments were used in the worship services.

     The number of Methodist Societies in upstate South Carolina continued to grow, and in 1825 the Laurens Circuit was formed with Reverend Barnett Smith appointed as the first Preacher in Charge. In 1852 a new church building was constructed on a donated lot very near the earlier church on West Main Street. Directly beside and facing the railroad tracks, this building still stands beside the railroad overpass.

     The dependency on circuit riding preachers resulted in irregular Sunday service schedules, so Bible studies and lay person speakers were often used. Years later, as the circuit was reduced in size, the church held services regularly. These services, two in number, were held on the first Sunday morning and the third Sunday afternoon. Occasionally there was a night service; however, light was limited due to dependency on wall bracket candle lamps with metal reflectors.

     Along with growth in church membership came the organization of Sunday School programs and the Women's Missionary Society. The War Between the States took its toll on the local church, and out of necessity the women members stepped forward to assume the leadership positions. By 1884 the church had become a station with the Reverend George M. Boyd serving as its first regular pastor.

     In 1894 the Upper South Carolina Annual Conference of Methodism was hosted by the Laurens congregation with its sessions being held in the nearby County Court House. It was during this session that the Conference voted to establish the Epworth Orphanage (now Epworth Children's Home) in Columbia.

     By 1897 the growing congregation needed a larger church building, so several members personally borrowed the funds to purchase a lot on West Main Street closer to the Court House square. In 1898 construction of the present sanctuary was completed at a cost of $15,000. It was built in Romanesque Revival style with a four-story bell tower, a pointed tower spire, and simplified arches and windows. The large and small sanctuaries were originally designed to be two rooms separated by a wooden wall and door attached to a metal track so that it could be slid into the wall and concealed when the rooms were being used as one. There was no center aisle in the original sanctuary until 1937.

     In 1936 when the Reverend J. Owen Smith was pastor (elected by the Southeastern Jurisdiction as Bishop of the Methodist Church and appointed to the North Georgia Conference in 1960), the three-story Education Building was constructed adjacent to the sanctuary. Prior to that time Sunday School classes had been held in the choir room, the choir loft, the two front vestibules, and in both sanctuaries.

     In 1915 the church purchased a large house located adjacent to the east side of the sanctuary to be used as the parsonage. In 1960 the current parsonage was built several blocks up West Main Street, and on the resulting vacant parsonage lot the present Fellowship Hall with second-floor classrooms was constructed. The children's day care program eventually occupied the vacated ground floor space in the Education Building.

     Over the years several renovations and enhancements have been made to the main sanctuary. The most recent occurred in 2003 by returning the beamed ceiling to its original height with hanging light fixtures.

     As did most church congregations in America during the two World Wars, First Church Laurens sent off many of its members to serve in the military. In 1918 during World War I the Women’s Missionary Society presented to the church a service flag containing thirty-five stars for the thirty-five men in the military and a red cross for a female member who entered the Red Cross as a nurse. Thirty days after that service the church suffered its one fatality when Lt T.D. Lake, Jr. was killed in the Battle of Argonne Forest.