Spring Hill Church of Christ - Spring Hill Tennessee TN (Tvinx :: Social Networks)

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Our Heritage

Brother F.C. Sowell held two tent meetings years before the Spring
Hill Church of Christ was established. The seed, which is the word of
God (Luke 8:11 ), was sown at that time. Later, a few Christians began
to conduct worship services, the first being held on May 1, 1915 .
Seventeen people were present for the first service.

The first gospel meeting for the newly formed church was held by
Brother E.A. Elam. Brother H.W. Rye held meetings the next two years.
The services were held for three years each Sunday afternoon in the
Cumberland Presbyterian Church building.

The elders who served at that time were Brothers Lee Prentice, Albert
Carpenter and R.L. Hays. The deacons were Jim Goad, J.W. Beasley and
J.A.C. Jones. Brother W.L. Green served as treasurer. In the year
1918, the elders bought lots on Depot Street from Brother Charlie
Mahon, and the first building owned by Spring Hill Church of Christ
was erected.

Brother Rye held the first meeting in the new church building. In the
years following, gospel meetings were held by such men as C.M.
Pullias, Ben Harding and Andy Largen. The church had preachers from
David Lipscomb College once a month. Brother Clifford was one of those
who came from time to time. In those early years of the church’s
existence, the weekly contributions were often just two or three
dollars.

Bible class teachers in those days were Brother R.L. Hays, Sister R.L.
Hays, Sister J.A.C. Jones and Sister Will Green. During the first
years in the new building there were no classrooms. They divided into
different groups in the auditorium. When someone obeyed the gospel
they were taken to a little creek not far away to be baptized.

In 1936 the Tennessee Orphans’ Home moved to Spring Hill from
Columbia . There were a total of forty-eight (48) children under the
supervision of Brother S.O. Owens. With those additional people, it
was necessary to build three classrooms. With a rather steady increase
in number, especially children, the church began to hold classes
outside under the trees and put chairs in the aisles.

By this time, the elders of years before were gone. The names of three
men were put before the church for consideration for serving as
elders. Those men, W.B. Richter, W.A. Walker and Ed Smith, were
approved and appointed to be elders in 1947.

As time went by the old building was just not large enough to meet the
needs for seating, classrooms, etc. In a report made by Brother Ed
Smith, he said, “With only six or eight wage earning families in the
congregation, there was only one thing to do and that was to make an
appeal for support for a new building. The good Lord blessed us
abundantly in this effort. We set aside a certain day for a special
contribution in our own congregation. With this, and the goodness of
many Christians, we now have a nice meeting house on Highway 31 with a
seating capacity of four hundred…” In 1964 an annex was completed and
this gave the brethren an addition of a fellowship room (which was
also used for several classes) and four other classrooms making a
total of fifteen classrooms. In 1997, one of the classrooms was
converted to a church library with the remaining classrooms further
enlarging the fellowship room.

Numerous preachers have held gospel meeting at Spring Hill in years
past including: Andy Largen, H.W. Rye, C.M. Pullias, Gus Nichols, F.C.
Sowell, Ben Harding, George DeHoff, Willard Collins, Bob Anderson,
Roger Mills, Wayne Poucher, Myron Keith, Bill Smotherman, Dean
Buchanan, Billy Brewer, John Hurt, Bob Kerce, Danny Cottrell, Curtis
Cates, Ted Burleson, Curtis Dowdy, Roger Banks, Elmer Lusk, Billy
Bland, Coy Hathcock, Mike Greene and Randy Kersey.

According to available information, it seems that Brother H.W. Rye was
the first full-time preacher with this congregation. Others who have
served over the years include: Charles Brewer, Thomas J. Wagner, Steve
North, Joe K. Alley, Roger Mills, Hillard Storey, Enoch Thweet, A.T.
Pate, Rudolph Hunt, Harold Baker, Bert Brown, Harry Anderson, Dean
Buchanan, Bobby Williams, David Swanger, Glen Alexander, and Jonathan
Jones II who serves as the current preacher having been here since
January 1, 2004 .

Men who have served as elders are: Lee Prentice, R.L. Hays, Albert
Carpenter, Charles Mahon, Brother Blair, Ed Smith, Andy Walker, W.B.
Richter, Bill Andrews, Kenneth Maynard, Van Ingram, Kenneth Harris,
Lloyd Baxter Sr., Harry Edwards and Johnny Tomlin. Those presently
serving are: Clyde Farmer, Steve Bowman and Billy Wright. Serving
under the elders at this time as deacons are: Phil Bennett, Randall
Chesnut, Jay Farmer, Jon Farmer and Dale Walton. Cheryl Primm has
served as this congregation’s first and only church secretary since
March, 1990.

The following are current works supported by the Spring Hill Church of
Christ. Missionary work: Steve Waller in Indonesia, Samson Octobre in
the Philippines, Eastern European Mission Fund, Korea Ministry,
Spanish Literature Ministry in Cuba, and Cherokee Church of Christ. TV
gospel preachers: James Watkins “Preaching the Gospel” and Mack Lyons
“In Search of the Lord’s Way.” Preaching Students supported include:
Lajohn McDonald, Matt Brown, and Coy Lydell Hathcock. Other works
supported are: Agape, Tennessee Children’s Home and Disaster Relief
Fund.