We have many faithful brethren. Please visit when you can. It is difficult to write in just a few words a history of the Corinth Church of Christ. However, I will do my best. Last year we celebrated our 150th year of existence since the Lord's church was established in this community. The church, however, has actually been in existence since 33 A.D. It was established on the first Pentecost follow
ing the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Since the "seed is the word of God" (Luke 8:11), wherever the seed is planted it will bring forth the same thing it did in the 1st century. The majority of folks departed from the "seed of the kingdom" for centuries following the establishment of the church. In this new country, in the late 1700's and early 1800's, men stood up to preach only the Word of God. They put away the doctrines and creed books of men and went back to the Bible. Even though there were men that began to make a move for getting the Bible to the people in Europe, they still did not rid themselves of the creed books and doctrines that had been in existence since the 3rd and 4th centuries. This was called the "reformation period." However, in this country, we had what has been called the "restoration." We are grateful to men like Barton W. Stone, Thomas and Alexander Campbell, Jacob Creath, Jr., "Raccoon" John Smith, John Mulkey, David Lipscomb, and many others. Some of these men and maybe others came through this area preaching only the Bible, specifically New Testament Christianity. The church of our Lord has been in existence in Middle Tennessee and Southern Kentucky for over 200 years. Some of those congregations are still faithful and active today. In 1862, a series of gospel meetings were held in a brush arbor just about a mile west from where the church building stands today. This became the official beginning of the church in the Corinth community, although brethren were meeting in this vicinity in the early 1800's. During the late 1800's, James "Walter" Harding preached in this area and baptized your editor's grandfather, J.W. Hodges. Brother Harding was the father of James A. Harding, whom Harding University is named after. The church which is at Corinth met in a log schoolhouse until 1908. It was during that year that J.R. Watson held a series of meetings and several were obedient to the gospel. At that point, a one acre plot was given to the church by Boone Barber, which would be used to erect a building and start a cemetery. The church building was located at the top of the hill where the Corinth Cemetery stands today. In 1936, Bells and Nora Minor gave the land on which the building stands today. Part of that original building still stands beneath the annex which is used today by the church. Shortly after the building was erected, brother Barney Morehead, a gospel preacher and former missionary, started a book store in Nashville. This brother came through Portland and stopped by the Corinth church and gave them the two pictures that hung over the two front doors of the old church building for many years. They are still over the two doors on either side of the pulpit today. Paul Hodges, your editor's uncle, provided us with this information. The first elders to serve in the Corinth church were Wade T. Freeland, Dixie Moye, and George Perdue. Some of the names of families in the congregation were Allison, Barber, Brown, Crouch, Dorris, Freeland, Hodges, Lancaster, Martin, Minor, Moye, Perdue, Roark, and Woodcock. Later others were converted and other family names were Atkins, Cantrell, Campbell, Cook, Claiborne, Dixon, Graves, Knight, Mahoney, Overton, and Stubblefield. We are not aware of any other men that served as elders during the years leading up to the 1940's. Four men served as elders during the 40's, 50's, and 60's: Marvin Claiborne, Henry Gregory, J.W. Hodges, and Aubrey Perdue. Many faithful gospel preachers have served the Corinth congregations. They were men like G.C. Brewer, J.P. Watson, J.D. Boyd, Hugo McCord, J. Ridley Stroop, C.M. Pullias, Early West, Ralph Henley, and James McGill. From what we understand, brother Ralph Henley was the first preacher to preach on a regular basis, Sunday to Sunday. James McGill followed him and preached at Corinth each Lord's Day for about four or five years. The following men once served as elders since the 1970's: Bobby Ausbrooks, Ray Barber, W.D. Caudill, Guthrie Garrett, H. Cara Gregory, James L. Marlin, Gene Thompson, and Manson Wakefield. Mack Jenkins was appointed as an elder in 1997, Jim Knight in 1999, and David Clemmons in 2003. In May of this year, two more men were appointed as elders, Nick Pietro and Stanley South. These five men that now serve as our elders are godly men who desire that the truth be preached here at home and in many other places. The eldership has challenged the church to be more involved in evangelistic work. The church has met that challenge. More and more of the budget is going towards preaching the gospel to the world. This includes various parts of the world as well as training men to become gospel preachers in preacher training schools. Your editor came to work with this good church in December 1998. For a number of years, Mark Sexton worked as our youth/associate (2000-2010). David Marcin began to work as our associate preacher in 2011. David fills in when the preacher is away and preaches on Sunday evenings from time to time. He also teaches one of our adult classes on Sunday morning. We presently have one deacon, Kevin Kepley, who serves faithfully in coordinating the activities of our youth. This is indeed a brief history of the Corinth Church of Christ. Since your editor and his wife grew up in this congregation, there are many names and events that we could recall. Roy J. Hearn, Clifford Dobbs, Willie Cato, J.E. Choate and Bill Carpenter preached here while we were teenagers. It was during the early 1960's that brother Marshall Keeble preached one Sunday night. This of course was in the old building. It was packed. People were standing up, and children were sitting on the floor and around the pulpit. Your editor who heard brother Keeble on more than one occasion stood in the small foyer to listen to this faithful gospel preacher who had made an indelible mark on the brotherhood and the world! May the Corinth Church of Christ continue to worship and preach the "unsearchable riches of Christ" in the community as long as the world stands! This is our prayer!
