Searcy Baptist Church was organized June, 1850, under the name of Shilo Baptist Church of Christ, under Elder John Goad. The following are pastors who have served the church from the beginning to the present incumbent: John Goad, 1850-1851; James Bell, 1852-1854; N. P. Moore, 1854-1855; William Lea, 1855-1856; T. P. Boon, 1856-1859, for the first term, and after one year was recalled & continued to June 1876, a total of exactly 17 years. Elder Weotherly (Weatherly?) acted as pastor during the year of Elder Boon's absence -- 1860. Moses Green, 1873-1874; J. C. Shipp, 1876-1877; J. Y. Jenkins, 1878-1880; J. S. Thomas, 1880-1882; A. J. Kincaid, 1882-1886; J. W. Harris, 1886-1888; J. R. Hughes, 1889-1893; E. C. Faulkner, 1893-1897; A. L. Powell, 1898-1899; Ben M. Bogard, 1899-present.

     A study of the above list will show that the pastorates have averaged about 3 years each. The longest term being that of the Elder T. P. Boon, 17 years exactly. The shortest being those of Elders Weotherly, Lea, Green & Powell, one year each. The present incumbent has been on the field 2 1/2 years with no time set to quit.

     The following is a list of church clerks: W. G. Sanders, 1851-1859; W. G. Turner, 1859-1864; B. D. Turner, 1864-1866; M. A. Owen, 1866-1868; W. Y. Holloway, 1868-1874; Henry Bloch, 1876-1882; John G. Holland, 1882-1885; W. Tharp, 1885-1886; John G. Holland (re-elected), 1886-1896; J. A. Ford, 1896, and is still in office.

     The following is the list of constituent members who went into the organization of the church. Others came in the same year:

     Brothers J. R. Renfro, A. Cullum, A. Armstrong, M. Armstrong, W. G. Sanders, Samuel Armstrong, Samuel Guthrie, Charles W. Boatwright, James Beckett, Samuel Collins; Sisters Milla Renfro, Sarah P. Renfro, Martha Renfro, Caroline Cullum, E. McCane, M. McCane, Ann Sanders, Sarah Y. Shank, Charlotte Kniffen, Mary A. Boatwright, Ellen Boatwright, Virginia Boatwright, and Sisters Harder & Crik, (who were not in the organization.) By counting it will be seen that there were 22 constituent members, 10 male & 12 female.

     The first church house was a wooden building located one square west of the southwest corner of the spring park, on the property now owned by the church clerk, J. A. Ford. It was destroyed during the Civil War. The 2nd building was of stone & brick -- a stone foundation & brick walls. At the time it was built it ws the finest church building among Baptist in Ark., and one of the finest of any sort in the state; but it has out-lived its usefulness & is now a back number, not at all adequate to the demands of the present large membership & increased population of Searcy.

     April 2, 1899, a resolution was passed declaring in favor of building a new church house, and the deacons were authorized & instructed to buy a lot on which to build & to devise ways for raising the money to pay for same. (See Minutes.)

     May 7, 1899, this was reaffirmed and a designated lot - half a square was purchased. June 15, 1899, it was again reaffirmed, and the deal was closed for the building lot. Jan. 7, 1900, a committee was appointed by the church to raise money for building a new house, and May 20, 1900, a committee was appointed to secure an architect & get plans & specifications for a new building. Jan. 6, 1901, the church endorsed the action of the committee in letting the contract for the foundation, and Mar. 3, 1901, the committee was instructed to let the contract for the building above the foundation.

     These dates & details are given in order that all may know that it was with deliberation the church undertook to build the new house. It was not the result of a sudden impulse, but the conviction that a good, comfortable meeting house was needed. The new building when completed will cost something over $9,000 & together with the lot will be easily worth $10,000.

     There are several items of interest in the history of this church. Center Hill Church was organized as an arm of the Searcy church, Aug. 1853. Elder William Lea, a missionary of the Big Hatchie Assoc., of Tennessee, was instrumental in accomplishing this work.

     May 24, 1855, the church passed along strong resolutions against the liquor traffic. "Resolved, that the support of dram-shops by church members is incompatible with the genius of Christianity, destructive to the moral influence of the church, in direct opposition to the teaching of the Bible, & consequently should not be tolerated by the church of Christ." In keeping with this resolution several parties were arraigned before the church for drinking strong drink, and all who did not give satisfactory proof of repentance were excluded.

     A number have been excluded for dancing, card playing, attending horse races, etc. The church has at various times put itself on record against the many modern evils which have given so much trouble to the Lord's people.

     The pastor who did most toward building up the church, and toward giving it a solid doctrinal basis was Elder T. P. Boon, who for 17 years broke the bread of life in this church. Something should be done as a fitting memorial of this really great man, who, with all his faults, commanded the respect of the people & builded more wisely than he knew. His strong doctrinal preaching caused some to depart & walk with him no more, but it resulted in establishing the church in the faith & works too stable to moved about by every wind of doctrine.

     There have gone out of this church several preachers. A Bro. Webb was licensed to preach, April, 1857; J. C. Anderson, April, 1858; M. H. Owen, ordained, Aug. 10, 1870; T. R. Wilhoit, Aug. 30, 1881; and B. A. Moore, Jan. 25, 1900. These 5 have gone out to the world to preach the doctrine which the church believes, and above all to lead souls to Christ.

     The church has been strict with regard to the attendance of the members on the business meetings. If a member missed more than one business meeting in succession he was compelled to give an account to the church, and some were excluded for non-attendance. It is now a rule of the church that if a member miss as many as 3 business meetings in succession he shall be dealt with by the church. This, however, has become practically a dead letter.

     A pathetic entry is made in the minutes bearing date Feb., 1864: "We have held, most of the time, regular preaching at the Searcy Baptist church by our dear Bro. Boon, but no business." To those who lived & suffered during the dark & bloody civil war this entry is in no need of explanation. The men were in the war or demoralized by it, & the women & a few old men kept up the work of the church as best they could.

     The church began having every Sunday preaching Jan., 1873, & has kept it up ever since -- 29 years. The salary of Bro. Boon, the first full-time preacher, was fixed at $1000 per year. At that time it was probably the only Baptist church in Arkansas which had preaching every Sunday, and the salary was perhaps larger than any other in the state.

     Bro. N. J. Gentry & Sister Jane Gentry, father & mother of Martin Gentry & Miss Mary Gentry, in whose name the new church house will be dedicated, joined the church by letter in June, 1877. The gift of $2,500 by Miss Mary Gentry made the new church a certainty, & it gave such a stimulus to all that it was decided to dedicate the new church the Gentry Memorial.

     There is at present a substantial membership of about 250, with the prospects for the future never brighter. By the help of God the church has succeeded & will succeed.

     Searcy, Arkansas.

[From The Arkansas Baptist, June 12, 1901. Scanned and formatted by Jim Duvall.]

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