It was a circuitous path that led Bryan Kelley to be pastor at Winn’s Couley Methodist Church but one that connected him to family roots at the historic little rural church on Highway 84.
Interest by the Journal was sparked as Kelley discussed the traditional Christmas gathering of some 30 members of the Kelley and Chandler families in the home of his parents, Don and Brenda Kelley, and their subsequent participation in the Christmas Eve service at Couley Methodist Church.
“It wasn’t planned.” Kelley explained. He’d been a youth and church minister at First United Methodist Church since 2010. Couley had been part of a relationship with FUMC and Kelley had preached there on various occasions. “When Couley disassociated with the United Methodist Church in May 2023, they asked me to preach there for a time then asked me to be their pastor.”
Kelley has some childhood memories of the church from when he attended with grandfather Bryan Middleton Kelly, a carpenter who assisted in some of the church construction. There was a backlit illumination of Jesus. There were also plastic dividers on either side as you looked down the aisle towards the pulpit which opened to the men’s and women’s Sunday School classrooms.
But those were just occasions. Kelley’s early life was mostly Baptist. Don explained that when Bryan as a child was in daycare at First Baptist Church, they felt it right to also be involved, supporting that church where he and Brenda continue to be active. Kelley had the opportunity to assist with the youth there with Scott Sullivan.
“I attended Louisiana College with a plan of ministering and I worked with the youth at Laurel Heights. But health issues forced me to resign,” Kelley said. For a time he worked maintenance at FBC and helped with the children’s program with Diane Holeman. Then he was called by FUMC where he remained until his present calling.
Then there’s his “day job.” Kelley has served as Winn’s Registrar of Voters since July 2018. Prior to winning the support of the Police Jury for that post, he had served as assistant under Rita James until her retirement.
Family gatherings and association with the Couley church have been a tradition for years. Six generations had ties with the church and its Christmas Eve services while four generations, ages infant through 78, gathered at the Christmas activities in the Don Kelley home.
The church was started in the 1850s as the Union Grove Society, utilized by Methodists and Baptists alike. It evolved into Shady Grove in the 1880s but the original church burned in 1908. The congregation relocated to the Henry Little Church and used volunteer labor and mostly-donated materials from individuals and mills to begin building what is seen today. The tin roof came in the 1950s and there have been additions since.
