The members of the First Christian Church of Dublin begin their celebration of the 100th anniversary of their church this month. One hundred years ago, Dublin and Laurens County’s churches were almost exclusively Baptist and Methodist. With the rapid influx of new citizens, new denominations of churches began to appear. Among those new churches were the Disciples of Christ, who called their church the Christian Church.
The Christian Church originated in Pennsylvania in the first decade of the Nineteenth Century. Rev. Thomas Campbell, a Presbyterian minister, founded the church, which was based on more acceptance of other denominations of the Christian faith. Rev. Thomas M. Harris, who left the Methodist Church, led the
formation of several Christian churches in our area.
On August 1, 1898, a little more than one hundred years ago, those subscribing to the doctrines of the Christian Church met for a revival on the grounds of the old City Hall and old Masonic Lodge, the present site of Dublin’s City Hall.
Another written history of the church states that the revival was held in a tent in the area where the main office of the Farmers and Merchants Bank is now located. The revival was led by Rev. E.W. Pease. What followed was the organization of the First Christian Church of Dublin, which was led by Rev. E.L. Shellnut, who organized more Christian churches in Georgia than any other man. E.J. Holland was chosen as the first Elder of the Church. The founding deacons were N.B. Rawls and H.T. Jordan. The charter members of the Church were Mr. and Mrs. E.F. Bailey, Mr. and Mrs. James B. Hicks, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas B. Hicks, Mr. and Mrs. E.J. Holland, Mr. and Mrs. H.T. Jordan, Mrs. A.M. Prince, Lyda and Sherman Price, Mr. and Mrs. N.B. Rawls, Mrs. J.T. Smith, Mrs. M.A. Smith, and Mrs. A.T. Summerlin. James B. Hicks was elected clerk, and T.B. Hicks was chosen as the first church treasurer.
The first meetings were held in the then new Masonic Lodge, which was located in the second story of the building now occupied by Dublin Appliance Company (Dublin Courier Herald, 2009). Rev. S.P. Spigel served as a temporary minister. Meetings were later held in the meeting halls on the second floor of the Henry Building at 101 W. Jackson Street and in Christ Episcopal Church.
The members of the church began to look around for sites on which to build their new church. They chose a prime site on North Jefferson Street at its intersection with Gaines Street on the very edge of the commercial downtown area.
Today the site is occupied by Knight State Bank. In 1908, a new church building was completed. The new church (see picture) was constructed out of hydraulic stone. While small in stature, it was a handsome structure. Rev. Allen Wilson preached the first revival in the church. Fifty seven-new members joined the
Christian Church that day.
The secret to the success of any church is dedication and hard work by its members. Among the early members of the church, in addition to those mentioned above, were E.F. Bailey, H.T. Jordan, G.W. Johnson, B.F. Shepard, Grat Holt, J.J. Jordan, H.E. Williams, Dr. H.T. Hodges, Claude H. Jones, Otis Rawls, Jeff Proctor, T.H. Black, Dr. J.M. Page, J.F. Mullis, Doyle C. Knight, Joe Underwood, Dr. E.H.
Maynard, L.O. Beacham, George L. Hughes, B.L. Collins, S.F. Coffin, J.D. Tharpe, J.A. Rachels, Mary Smith, Mrs. John Williams, Mrs. J.A. Rachels, Winnie McPherson, Mrs. E.F. Bailey, Mrs. Tom Smith, Mrs. J.D. Tharpe, Mrs. Doyle Knight, Mrs. L.L. Porter, Mrs. M.A. Shewmake, Mrs. H.W. Jordan, Mrs. B.L. Tingle, Mrs. B.W. Johnson, Mrs. I.G. Prim, Mrs. C.H. Jones, Mrs. Gratt Holt, and Mrs. T.K. Tharpe.
The church was blessed early and for many years with faithful and hard-working women. Mrs. Margaret Rowe Hicks, wife of T.B. Hicks, was the first deaconess of the church. Mrs. James J. Jordan, the former Miss Mary Will Rachels, was the second deaconess of the church and the first woman in Laurens County to
exercise her right to vote when women were first allowed to vote in the 1920s. Other women serving on the board of deacons during the early years of the church were Mrs. T.K. Tharpe, Mrs. H.T. Hodges, Miss Florie Mae Hodges, Mrs. H.H. Ervin, Sr., Mrs. H.B. Wimberly, Mrs. I.G. Primm, and Mrs. M.A. Shewmake. In 1909, Mrs. H.M. Kirke and Mrs. J.J. Jordan were the first women from the church to serve as delegates to the Georgia state convention. Dorothy Hicks Ross, granddaughter of two of the church’s founders, Mr. and Mrs. T.B. Hicks, has been a member of the church for nearly eight decades.
The first permanent pastor of the church was Dr. Thomas L. Harris of Wrightsville. Dr. Harris, son of pioneer minister Thomas M. Harris, was a remarkable man. He practiced law and medicine and served as a minister, all at the same time. Following Dr. Tom Harris, the pastors of the Christian Church have been
P.H. Mears (1901-3), B.H. Morris (1903-5), George W. Mullins (1905-6), Virgil W. Wallace (1906-8; the first full time pastor), W.A. Cossaboom (1908-11), Charles S. Jackson (1911-12), W.F. Mott (1913-7), John W. Tyndall (1918-21), W.E. Abernathy, E.W. Sears, James A. Moore (1922-1925), Dr. E.L. Tiffany (1925-26), W.F. Mott (1926-29), James Lawson (1930), E.E. Sharpe (1931), Robert Bennett (1932-43),
Olin E. Fox (1946-49), Edward S. Reese (1949-51), Barney L. Stephens (1951-53), J. Gordon Hooten (1953-57), Robert A. Ferguson (1957-62), O.G. Gilbert (1962), Maurice Byers (1962-63), James Sitton (1964-69), William I. Jordan (1969-1983), Carl J. Brame, Jr. (1983-89), Mark Poindexter (1989-91), Emmett T. Carroll (1993-94), and William W. Glasson, Sr. (1994- to the present.) O.G. Gilbert, a native of
Dublin preached for fifty years before coming to Dublin to serve as an interim pastor in 1962. Rev. William I. Jordan, a former chaplain in the U.S. Navy during World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, served as pastor for fourteen years, the longest service in the history of the church.
During the pastorate of Rev. Mears, the Ladies Aid Society and the Christian Women’s Board of Missions was organized. During the pastorate of Dr. John W. Tyndall, membership soared to eight hundred and twelve. It had only been one hundred and fifty at the beginning of the decade. The little church was packed
nearly every Sunday.
In the late 1950s, the church building became outdated and too small. The first service at new church on the corner of Mimosa and Woodrow Streets was held on November 27, 1960. Rev. Charles L. Newby of Columbus was in charge of the services. One part of the beauty of the old church was the stained glass windows.
Two of the old windows were saved and installed in the new church building at the back of the sanctuary, facing the pulpit.
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