Cartecay Methodist Church was organized and a building erected in August 1834 on the property of Lewis D. Ellington. Its first preacher was William Ellington, ordained in 1805 by Bishop Asbury. The first Sunday School was organized on April 20, 1851, and has operated continuously. The present building, erected in 1859, remains in its original style and arrangement. During the War Between the States, groups of men guarded the building at night to protect it from Union sympathizers who roamed the countryside. Early preachers included Bethel Quillian, John B. Robeson, A. J. Hughes, A. J. Hutchinson, C. M. Letbetter, John W. Quillian, M. L. Underwood, C. A. Jamison, John Watkins, W. O. Butler, A. D. Echols, Walter B. Dillard, R. B. O. England, G. W. Griner, W. L. Singleton, J. N. Myers, W. C. Hunnicut, and John B. Pettit, and Bishop Warren Candler preached here as a young man.