Rehobeth United Methodist Church
The History of the Rehobeth United Methodist Church
by Janet Summers Kennedy, published with permission from Ms. KennedyNOTE: Rehobeth United Methodist Church and the adjacent Rehobeth Cemetery are located on US Hwy 59, approximately four miles north of Carthage. This history of the church was researched and written by Mrs. Kennedy in 1980 to accompany a petition to the Texas Historical Commission for a historical marker for the church. At that time, Mrs. Kennedy's husband, Dr. Thomas A. Kennedy, was the church pastor (1977-1981) and she was employed by the Carthage Independent School District as a counselor at Carthage Primary, Libby Elementary and Baker-Koonce Elementary schools. The sought-after historical marker was unveiled the last Sunday the Kennedy's served the local congregation in June 1981.
In this general section of Panola County, the first Methodist preaching was done at the Old Camp Ground. Rev. N.S. Johnson was the first pastor of the church known as the Camp Ground Church, beginning his ministry at that church in 1848. It is assumed that the first preaching done in the near vicinity of the Rehobeth Church was done by pastors of the Camp Ground Church. Some of those pioneer preachers were N.S. Johnson (1848-49), G.W. Lentz (1869-72), J.R. Bellamy (1872-74) and Julius Bridges (1874). The Camp Ground Church was moved in 1913 and became what is now the Pisgah United Methodist Church.
Another contributing factor in the early preaching in this area was the Mesquite Bend Church. This church was a primitive Baptist church, but it was attended by some who later became the first members of the Rehobeth Church. The seats in this church were simply logs cut into two slabs with pegs in either end of the slabs. This church was located on the north side of Coxe's Creek and has been destroyed for many years. Only sketchy information is available concerning it.
Another factor involved in the establishment of the Rehobeth Church was the establishment of a Methodist church at Beckville. The Beckville Church was organized prior to the Civil War, but since the records have been lost, the exact date is not known. J.M. Mills was the pastor at Beckville in 1878 and he was the first pastor of Rehobeth Methodist Church. From 1878-1954, Rehobeth was on the Beckville Circuit. Other members of this circuit at various times were Beckville, Rehobeth, Rock Hill, Tatum, Sand Hill and others.
In the year of 1878, there was a school house on the present church property located to the north of the present church, approximately at the front gate of the cemetery. There is no record as to when this school was built, but it is known that in addition to regular classes there were debates, prayer meetings and preaching services held in the building. Often the preaching services were conducted by local Methodist preachers who were assigned to regular work. On January 9, 1878, John Wesley Biggs and his wife Mary Ann Biggs ceded to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South three acres more or less which included the ground on which the school house stood. This deed is recorded in Book N, page 396 of the Panola County records. The original trustees were Emanuel Smith, John Chadwick and John W. Biggs.
In the spring of this same year, the community went to work on the construction of the church. All able-bodied men went to the woods and cut the timber, hewed out the sills and drew the blocks. Joe Gipson drew the shingles and Fate Walker sawed the lumber. Mr. Walker and Mr. Simpson Morris, who were carpenters, hauled the lumber and everyone who could use a plane helped to dress the lumber. Then those who were able to drive nails laid the foundation and built the church. The church was without a ceiling for many years and when the first revival meeting was held in the church, the building was not yet completed. In the summer of 1878, Rev. J.M. Mills held a revival meeting and because the steps were yet to be constructed, two by twelves were propped up to the door for steps. Candles were used for lights, except for one coal oil lamp which was on the speaker's stand for the preacher. The first church Bible was given by Mr. and Mrs. John Wesley Biggs.
In 1907, the church building was further improved. Mr. R.P. Thompson, Mr. M.W. Faucett, Mr. D.D. Chadwick and Mr. R.T. Simns donated timber which was processed at the Thouston Thompson mill. The community labored to construct a ceiling and built the rostrum. In later years carbide lights were also added to the church.
In 1924 timber was donated by F.M. Chadwick to make new seats for the church and the timber was sawed at Smith and Turner Mill and then planed at Brown's Planer in Carthage. The seats were then constructed by Mr. R.W. Thompkins at Mr. J.E. Whitaker's.
The church has been remodeled on three separate occasions. First in 1929 the church was recovered, the pillows lowered, a front porch built and the building repainted. In the summer of 1945, what had been the Mitchell school house was moved on to the church property to serve as Sunday School rooms. In 1947, a committee was appointed to see about the possibility of remodeling the church, but because of a lack of funds the work did not progress. In 1949, when the remodeling of the church was at a standstill, one of the beloved members, Ola Biggs (who in 1980 is our oldest living member, at 95 years of age) stood with tears streaming down her face, she addressed the attending members. The talk went something like this, "Brothers and sisters, we have squabbled long enough. Look around you at the condition of our church. If one of our members at Rehobeth should pass away, we would not even have a decent place to hold a Christian service. We are brothers and sisters. If we do not know to do next, we need to go to God in prayer and He will show us." Some money was raised and later that year the ladies of the church took over the floundering project and set a date for a community working. Almost everyone in the community turned out to help. After three weeks of hard work and with the help of God, the remodeling project was finished. With the profound thankfulness to God, the church was dedicated to the glory of God on February 20, 1949. The final part of the dedication service was flipping the light switches to reveal the light fixtures which were given by Mr. And Mrs. Hubert Mitchell and Mr. and Mrs. Byron Rhea in memory of Mrs. Mitchell's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Baker Smith, and in memory of Mrs. Rhea's mother and in honor of her father, Mr. And Mrs. J.E. Whitaker.
The structure of smaller Methodist churches were changing and the circuit which had served its day well was beginning to fade from the picture.
The Beckville circuit had in the last years of its existence three churches, Beckville, Rehobeth and Rock Hill. On June 1, 1954, Beckville became a full-time church and Rehobeth and Rock Hill continued together. To house the pastor, a parsonage was built behind the Rehobeth Church. The lovely five-room home was completed in 1953 with the garage, washroom and workshop being added in 1954. Odis Cleaver and his family were the first parsonage family to live in the new parsonage.
In 1956, further improvements were made upon the sanctuary of Rehobeth Church and new pews added to the beauty and worshipful atmosphere of the sanctuary.
Rehobeth became a full-time work in June of 1957 with Conrad Winborn as the first full-time pastor. In 1958, plans were formulated for the construction of a new educational building along with improvements to the sanctuary. The Building Committee consisted of Amos Whitaker, Mouzon Biggs, Sr. and Ray Shephard. W.L. Holt was the contractor. On April 13, 1958, there was a special church conference at which time the building plans were approved. The new brick educational building which had central heating, eight Sunday School rooms, two restrooms, a fellowship hall and a pastor's study was completed in December of 1958. In March of 1959, the work of bricking up the sanctuary, along with putting new tinted windows was completed. The total cost for the last improvement was $29,336.30.
Many of the old-time evangelists cannot be named, but in the more recent years some of the best Methodism has to offer has preached here. The beloved B. Waggoner, Rev. Wilson Waiting, Dr. Harold Fagan, Rev. Elton Elrod, Dr. Bill Scales, Rev. C.B. Perkins, Dr. A.D. Lemons, Dr. Charles Williams, Dr. Bob Parrot, Dr. Harry Denman, Rev. Edwin McDaniel, Rev. Carl Dyer, Rev. George Hearn, Rev. Louis Knight, Rev. Buddy Miller and Rehobeth's own Dr. Mouzon Biggs, Jr., Rev. Ben Chamness and Rev. Bill Holt.