Smithville United Methodist Church began on October 8, 1812, as the first religious gathering in Green Township, when sixteen people met in the cabin of Michael Thomas. A Reverend Gray, a circuit rider passing through the area saw the group and exclaimed, " I believe have found my flock in the desert!" He shared a message and the group shared a dinner of venison and "johnnycake."
Two years later, this first religious group was organized as a congregation of the Methodist Episcopal Church, under the pastoral leadership of Reverand Thomas Summerville.