When Lawrence Akin built this church, historically known as Mount Pleasant Methodist Church,  Mount Pleasant was a thriving community whose economy was based on timber. Today, the church is the only real link to that era. Akin was a Camden County native who became involved in banking and politics after moving to Mount Pleasant in 1884. His business interests in the Mount Pleasant area led him to build a suitable church where his family could worship. The community was in steady decline by the late 1920s and by the 1940s, the church membership was nearly too small to sustain. A gift from one of Lawrence Akin’s daughters, Ruth Akin Hightower, insured that the church would survive and the congregation was renamed to honor its founder.