Prospect Baptist Church Marks Centennial ? 1 00 Years To I he Day
Prospcci Baptist Church at
Supply will celebratc its ccntcnnial
Sunday, March 3 ? exactly 100
years sincc the date of its organisa
tion in 1891.
A former pastor, the Rev. Tom H.
Williams of Supply, will return to
preach during the 11 a.m. worship
service. Also Sunday, photos and
other memorabilia relating to
church history will be displayed,
said Gwen C. Causey, church clerk.
No dinner is planned at this time
because of the cold weather; how
ever, interested members may dine
out together, she said. Members,
former members and pastors and
friends of the church are invited to
participate in the centennial celebra
tion.
Williams, who pastored the
church in 1926, is one of only nine
surviving former pastors.
Others arc J. Bryan Dosher,
1932-33, 1936-37; C. Odell
Blanton, 1956-57; J. Harry Lackey,
1958-59; William Reynolds, 1962
63; Hilton Willctts. 1964-66: James
K. Johnson, 1967; Ivrcn Hughes.
1969-1970; and Emery R. Hcwctt,
1971-76.
The Rev. E. Marvin Mussclwhite
is the current pastor, while A. A.
Edwards was the first of 30 pastors
called during the church's 100
years.
Nestled beneath a stand of pines
at the edge of the Green Swamp
north of Supply, Prospcci Baptist
Church has changed little in some
ways sincc its quiet beginning.
Organized with 13 male members
and 13 female members, the
church's growth peaked in the
1960s when membership reached
76. Today the church has approxi
mately 40 members of record, of
which approximately 20 arc active,
said Mrs. Causey, who grew up in
the church. T.iough small in size,
the church coming s ;o hold regular
services.
Mrs. Causey attributes the gradu
al decline in membership to the loss
of older members and to young peo
ple leaving the rural community.
Charter members came predomi
nantly from the same families thai
THIS SUNBEAM BAND was probably photographed in the late
1930s. Shown at the front is Clyde Clemmons; second row, Louise
Atkinson and Cornell Clemmons; uii.d row, Irene Atkinson, J asie
Clemmons, and a Cliff gin wf.ose first name isn't known; and top
row, Aldreth Phelps, Valno Gennison and Edison Atkinson.
continue today on the church rolls:
the Clcnimons, Phelps and Wcxxlard
families.
Listed as charter members in the
church records, which have re
mained intact through the years, arc
these individuals: (men) Anthony B.
Clcmmons, Rufus B. (Badger)
Clcmmons, Beauregard Clcmmons,
George Clcmmons, E.L. (Ephriam
Lock wood) Clcmmons, O.D.
(Oliver Dunbar) Clcmmons, Davis
Clcmmons, HJ. Clcmmons, F.T.
(Franklin Tom) Clcmmons, T.A.
Clcmmons, J.T. Clcmmons, B.L.
Holden and Asbury Simmons: and
(women) F.R. Woodard, Lydia
Simmon?. Henrietta Long, A.H.
Holden, Lydia A. Ho'-jcn, Catharine
Clemmons, Orena Clcmmons, A.H.
(Alpha Halridgc) Clcmmons, M.E.
(Ma'issa) Clcmmons. Catherine A.
Clcmmons and Kitsy Clcmmons.
Most of these charter members
apparently came by transfer of letter
from Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church.
Mrs. Causey said records of Ml.
Pisgah indicate that, in January
1891, 21 letters were issued for
members who were forming a
church that was to begin meeting in
the old Royal Oak School.
"That sounds like our bunch."
she said.
The new church apparently
evolved from a Sunday School that
had been meeting since 1885.
Prospect Church organizers
adopted the 1742 Philadelphia
Confession of Faith and later elect
ed Jefferson Sellers as their first
Sunday School superintendent. B.L.
Holden and Asbury Simmons were
the first deacons.
Improvements to the property in
those early years included purchase
of a lamp, installation of a ceiling,
rcflooring and expansion. In 1900,
two women of the church,
B.V.Holden and Ella Simmons, con
tributed funds for purchase of a
Bible for the pulpit. In 1922, a bell
was acquired, and in 1942, a piano.
A new building with a 150-scat
capacity sanctuary was dedicated
Thanksgiving Day 1938. It was
build adjacent to the church's pre
sent site, on land given by Badger
Clemmons. Work had begun in
December 1935 with appointment
of a building committee.
In December 1905 some member
formed a branch Sunday School,
SaObath Home, but within a tew
years all those members had re
turned to Prospect, the records
showed.
As the church grew it added
Sunday School classrooms and, in
July 1954, organized a Training
Union.
In 1961 the growing church expe
rienced a setback when, on Dec. 21,
the church building burned due to a
malfunction in the furnace.
Minutes show the congregation
met the following night "to make
plans for the future."
With the help of sister churches
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MEMBERS GATHER after the service for a "family" portrait in the spring of 1959.
PROSPECT BAPTIST CHURCH now worships in this building, which was dedicated Nov. 22, 1964.
An earlier building dating to 1938 burned Dec. 21, 1962, when the furnace malfunctioned.
in Ihc Brunswick Baptist Associa
tion, the congregation broke ground
March 24, 1963, for its third build
ing. The Rev. J. Bryan Doshcr con
ducted the dedication service on
Nov. 22, 1964.
Typical of the support given by
members throughout the history of
the church, members constructed
that building by renovating and
bricking up a workshop owned by
one of the men of the church.
St. Luke
Lutheran Church
Worship Service Sunday, 10:00 A.M.
Sunday School at 9:00 a.m.
Meeting In Shallolte Middle School
754-7816
HEARING AID CLINIC
Saturday
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30-day trial period. No obligation. Home calls available.
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