This church traces its history to 1886, when area settlers organized a congregation of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The church was named for the Rev. W. A. Shook, who held the first revival here. The congregation met in a brush arbor or a nearby schoolhouse until a sanctuary was built on land donated by B. P. Joiner. Early worship services were led by student pastors who were often paid in produce. Associated with the church is a community cemetery, begun in 1889. A second sanctuary, built in 1916, was replaced by a new structure in 1974.