History of Central Holston Christian Church

HISTORY OF CENTRAL HOLSTON CHRISTIAN CHURCH
Written by Sara “Beck” Bullock

In the summer of 1908, the people of Beech Forest and vicinity decided to build a church. Most of these were members of Weaver’s Church but were meeting at Beech Forest School at this time. Many of the members lived across the river near Troublesome School where they also had Sunday School and preaching services. J.N. Shepherd was pastor of Beech Forest and held preaching services at Troublesome part time.

The first step toward building a church was to decide on the building site. It was decided to build between Beidleman’s School (where there were several members), Troublesome School and Beech Forest, the center being close to the Central Holston Bridge. Mr. and Mrs. John Shipley donated enough land on which to build the church. This being the first and biggest step, they set out to secure funds with which to start the church. By September, they only had a small amount of lumber on the ground. The weather being bad and roads almost impassable, they decided to wait until spring to start the church in earnest.

The work was supervised by A.S. Bullock assisted by many of the faithful members. Among these: George Morton, Nathan Morton, J.B. Warren, J.A. Morton, Will Bullock, Charlie Bullock, Will Bouton, H.S. Morton, Jim Bullock, Avery Hatcher, and many others. The only one of these men still living is H. S. Morton who is still a faithful member.

Materials and labor, as well as money, were donated by friends and members. All the hauling was done by horses, so progress was somewhat slow but fast for that time.

In August of 1909 when the Ladies Aid met at the almost completed church, it was stated that if they could raise the sum of $30.00, the church would be completed by the third Sunday in September, free of debt and ready for dedication. The people got busy and raised the $30.00 in a hurry which, at that time, was a difficult task. The church was completed and dedicated on the third Sunday of September 1909.

Among the first officers were: G.W. Morton, A.S. Bullock, J.A. Morton, Jim Bullock, J.B. Warren, Nathan Morton, and Avery Hatcher. The church, being duly organized, called its first minister for one Sunday each month. The first minister was Bro. J.N. Shepherd of Milligan College. Bro. Shepherd came up to Vance’s Tank by train on Saturday and usually walked to the church, a distance of about seven miles, visiting on the way.

The church continued to have one-fourth time preaching for several years. As the church increased in strength, the time came when a minister was called for half-time and after several years with half-time preaching, a minister was called for full-time work. The following have served one or more ministries since that time: J.N. Shepherd, E.C. Buck, J.J. Music, E. Roy Gentry, S.A. Morton, M.B. Miller, John Ball, Johnny Hall, E.B. King, and R.M. Sims.

At the first revival meeting in December 1910, held by Bro. J.N. Shepherd, many united with the church and were baptized in the icy waters of the Holston River near the church. Among these were Andy O’Dell and Finley O’Dell.

At the time of J.J. Musick’s ministry, it was decided to build Sunday School rooms which were soon completed and ready for use. During the time of Johnny Hall’s ministry, the basement was completed with Sunday School rooms, the church was refinished inside with hardwood floors, new stained-glass windows, Celotex ceiling and warm-air furnace installed. Also, a well was dug, a river rock wall built around the yard and shrubbery planted with more than $2,000.00 left to start on the parsonage. After much hard labor by the men of the church, a beautiful river rock parsonage was built on the church property, complete with electric heat.

At the time of E.B. King’s ministry, the parsonage was completed, four new Sunday School rooms built, kitchen furnished and new pews and pulpit furniture purchased by individual groups in the church, such as: Circles # 1 and # 2 bought folding tables and the Christian Endeavor Group bought a piano for the basement. At the same time, the church gave full support to Mrs. Carol Herget, a Living Link Missionary to Jamaica and upon her return to the States, this support was automatically discontinued so the money was equally divided and sent to Milligan, Johnson, and Kentucky Christian Colleges. In addition to the above, the church has given many hundreds of dollars to needy families and to the erection of other churches.

Since the beginning of the church, we have had seven Sunday School Superintendents: George Morton, Andy O’Dell, Sam Morton, Dan O’Dell, Wiley O’Dell, H.M. Denton and Grant Widner. Rev. R.M. Sims began his ministry at Central Holston Church in the spring of 1951, moving here from Boswell, Indiana. It was during his ministry that a great calamity befell the church. On the morning of December 16, 1951, the entire church building was completely destroyed by fire and with no insurance. The people were grief stricken but within twenty-four hours, plans were being made and over $1,400.00 had been pledged to the erection of a new church on the same site. Additional land was donated by Jimmie Shipley so that a larger church and more parking spaces would be available. The Sullivan County Department of Education gave us permission to use any of the nearby schools for our church services and since Emmett’s School was more centrally located, it was decided to hold services there. The following Sunday after the fire, Sunday School and preaching services began at Emmett with 212 present. A great interest was taken immediately in raising funds for the rebuilding of Central Holston. The remains of the old building were salvaged and sold for approximately $52.00. An architect was secured and plans began to take shape for our new church building. Committees were appointed for various phases of the new project, but the problem was finances. Within a week, donations had already come in from other churches.

Many plans, too numerous to mention, were made to raise money to go to the building fund. The ladies of the church worked untiringly, having bake sales, quilting, serving dinners, making neck ties and every other possible method to help. The men spent many long hours working at the church and gave freely of their time whenever they were needed.

But let us not forget how splendidly the children helped by selling candy, making earrings and saving their pennies to help. In addition to the enormous expense of building a new church, it was decided to give half-support to our Living Link Missionary who had returned to Jamaica.

On November 19, Prayer Meeting was held in the basement of the new church with 104 present. Plans were made to hold the first regular church service in the auditorium of the new church on November 23 but, due to a heavy snow which damaged power lines, we were unable to have heat or lights but a song service and communion service were held in the basement with 169 present despite the severe cold and bad weather. Our first regular service was on Sunday, November 30, 1952.

Sunday night, November 30, began a week of pre-dedication services with visiting ministers as guest speakers. Among these were: Stephen A. Morton, Johnson City; Palmer Young, Kingsport; Bill Small, Bluff City; Mildred Welshimer, Milligan College; J.W. Jones, Borderview Christian Church in Elizabethton; and Morris Mounts, Valley Forge.

On Sunday afternoon, December 7, 1952, dedication services were held for the new Central Holston Church building, with W. Clyde Smith, pastor of the Central Christian Church in Bristol, giving the dedication sermon. These services were held one week less than one year from the time the old church burned and was not dedicated free of debt but was dedicated with thankful hearts that we have been so wonderfully blessed.

The old church building was destroyed but the church itself seems even stronger and more determined than ever before. This is the history of Central Holston’s first 44 years. What do the next 44 years hold in store for us? Our hats are off to all those who have worked so faithfully to help make Central Holston truly a Christian church. We are very proud of our new church but prouder still of the love and sincerity that reigns in the hearts of the people.

This part was written when Paul Faver was the minister and was included in the 2000 church pictorial directory. I am not sure who wrote it, but it could have been Paul. It contains a few details that the other ones did not.

CENTRAL HOLSTON CHRISTIAN CHURCH’S HISTORY
“Exalting God till we go Home”

Before Central Holston was ever thought about, members of the Christian Church were meeting to worship with other believers at Weavers Community Church. Other believers were meeting at Beach Forest School, some at Beidleman’s School, and some at Troublesome School. Someone planted a seed, others listened and agreed that a building was needed in a central location so that these small groups could come together and worship as one.

Mr. and Mrs. John Shipley donated the land, and every person began to pray and help raise funds for this new adventure. Many families pulled lumber from their own lumber piles to build the new building. Many of these same families provided the labor needed to achieve their dream. Each and every person sacrificed for what they saw as God’s plan for them as a part of the body of Christ. The materials were brought by horse drawn wagons and mule-drawn sleds with wooden runners. There were no rock or paved roads, just dirt roads made by the driving of wagon and sleds over a period of time.

In September of that same year, they had to postpone building because they didn’t have enough lumber, the weather was bad and the roads were almost impassable. But they kept the faith and continued to gather needed materials to finish the task.

Then, in the spring of 1909, the people were informed they needed $30.00 for the building to be finished by the third Sunday of September. The Ladies Aid met sitting on a pile of lumber on the grounds and accepted the challenge. And what a challenge! This was a time when almost all women stayed home and looked after their families. However, the women had their chickens, eggs, and butter to sell or trade. If you did work, 10 cents an hour was considered good wages. The ladies came through and raised the needed $30.00.

The building was completed and dedicated on the third Sunday of September, September 19, 1909. The one room building was made of wood and had a tin roof. Sunday School classes were taught in different sections of the auditorium. There were three rows of seats, one pot bellied stove in the center of the room for heat and cast iron brackets attached to the walls which held oil lamps for light. They had no basement, no furnace, no electricity, no air conditioning, no baptistery, no kitchen, no fellowship hall, no carpet, and no bathrooms. The first minister was J.M. Shepherd of Milligan College. Services were held one weekend each month.

Things were good for many years, then, on December 16th, 1951, the church building was destroyed by fire. The members met at Emmett School and on the third Sunday of September 1952 the first service was held, though the building was not yet finished. The first regular service was held on November 30, 1952. In 1970, a new educational addition with 6 classrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a Fellowship Hall was added.

Then 28 years later, on April 18, 1998, the church purchased 12 acres off Hickory Tree Road with a beautiful view of the mountains. Over the next year, the Lord led the church to purchase additional lots providing the church with almost 20 acres.

We truly believe God has a plan for Central Holston; we do not know every detail but one thing we do know is that we are committed to serving Him and exalting Him till we go home!

The following have served at Central Holston either in a full-time or part-time ministry position:

This is a partial list of the 26 Ministers who have served Central Holston over the years – J.N. Shepherd, E.C Buck, J.J. Music, E. Roy Gentry, S.A. Morton, M.B Miller, John Ball, John B. Hall, E.B. King, R.M. Sims, Clint Gill, Eugene Brockley, Wayne Emery, Sid Tiller, Bob Campbell, Roy Scarem, David Fulks and Bob VanLew

27 Youth Ministers have served Central Holston since the 1950s. The ones listed here are from more recent years. – David Ladd, Jeff Miller, Joey Potter, Doug Rouse, David Baine, David Workman, and David Meredith

Minister to Children – Dana Miller and Sherry Chambers

Music Ministry – Don Greene, John Wakefield, John Meredith and Alisa Faver

Secretaries – Zoe Witcher and Rhonda Rogers

Our present staff consists of Minister Paul Faver, Associate Minister John Pape, Secretary Patsy Smithson and custodian Dorothy Arnold.

Since 2000, the property on Hickory Tree Road has been developed by putting a driveway to the top of the hill, building a picnic shelter with a kitchen and rest rooms, and installing a volleyball court.

The first Homecoming meal was enjoyed at the picnic shelter in September 2001 and have continued to be there ever since. Plans are progressing to build a new church building on the property in the future.

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