THE HISTORY OF THE

BLOOMFIELD CHRISTIAN

CHURCH

AND ITS PEOPLE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BY RUTH R. GREEN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE HISTORY OF THE

BLOOMFIELD CHRISTIAN

CHURCH

AND ITS PEOPLE

 

 

AS PRESENTED BY RUTH R. GREEN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NOVEMBER 11, 1984

 

 

 

 

 

 

DEDICATION

 

 

         

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is dedicated to my dear mother, Ida Wright Rowland and to my beloved husband, John M. Green.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION

 

 

            The Bloomfield Christian Church celebrated its 150th anniversary with a  week of revival in November 1984 with Dr. Richard White, a former pastor who is now a professor at Lexington Theological Seminary, preaching.  Many other activities were enjoyed (see the enclosed program).

 

            The talk about the history of Bloomfield Christian Church was given on November 11, 1984, by the compiler, Ruth R. Green.  She took some of the early members whose descendants are still members and weaves them into the history.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

            The writer affirms the facts.  Some of the material was taken concerning the early history from the minutes of the Bloomfield Baptist Church and from the original minutes of the Christian Church, written by Zack Green.  The writer owns these minutes.  Also the writer wishes to express appreciation to the following: our pastor, Charles Brooks, Elizabeth and Harry Crawford, Elizabeth Green Leathers, Robert P. Moore, Eleanor Shields, and other members and friends of Bloomfield Christian Church who helped in many ways.  Special Thanks to Frank Green for the picture on the cover.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            Barton W. Stone was the Presbyterian minister of Cane Ridge Church.  He was the promoter of the great revival at Cane Ridge in 1801.  The Presbyterians called him before the synod for preaching “unorthodox theology.”  He, with several other Presbyterian ministers, withdrew from the synod.  Some churches also withdrew.  Richard Pope of the College of the Bible said, “This land is not only rich in history generally, it is peculiarly rich in memory and sentiment for the people of the Christian Church.  Here are to be found their first churches; here they came into existence as a separate people under God.  This happened several years before Thomas or Alexander Campbell came to this country.”

            Many ministers were influenced by this doctrine urging all Christians to unite, call themselves Christians, dismiss all differences, forget creeds and use scripture alone for basic beliefs.  Some of the ministers were, along with Barton Stone, Richard McNemar, and “Racoon” John Smith.  (I have a letter from him to Samuel McKay.  I know he was in Shelbyville and must have been here because he knew Mr. McKay) and Walter Scott.  Scott used the five finger exercise to teach his views: faith, repentance, baptism, forgiveness of sins, and the gift of the Holy Spirit.  I learned that in Sunday School.  Did you?  Other ministers influencing doctrine included Moses Laird, Robert Graham (who became president of Transylvania), John Allen Gano, J.W. McGarvey and Jacob Creath.

            Brother Creath is the one who came here and filled the pulpit of the Bloomfield Baptist Church.  Soon differences of opinion began to appear between the Baptists and the Reformers.  In 1820 there were complaints.  In 1832 an important document was drawn up stating the beliefs of the reformers and asking that their beliefs be considered.  The Reformers withdrew and asked it they could use the house of worship every first and third Sunday of each month and the third Saturday for business.  This arrangement did not prove to be satisfactory.

            At the Salem Association in 1833 a resolution was presented proposing that the pulpits of the churches not be opened to any preacher holding views of Campbell or Stone, not to receive the baptism of either “the Reformers” or of the Christian body.  Much discussion and opposition involving the Baptists and the Reformers followed in the next few months.

            On May 10, 1834, a resolution was presented at the Bloomfield Baptist Church.  “We resolve that we as a church have been greatly imposed on by certain men denying that they have any creed yet have come into our houses preaching the peculiar doctrine of Campbell or Reformers and thereby have been sowing seeds of discord among us.  We therefore close our doors in the future against all such men.”  The resolution passed.

            In 1832, Jarvis McKay was appointed pastor of the Reformers.  Green Duncan was appointed clerk with Zachariah Green as his assistant.  Duncan resigned and Zachariah Green became the clerk.  John Stone and Haden Edwards were elders.  There are 73 names on the records of the people who withdrew along with some slaves of their owners.

            Now, let us think what is the church?  It is the people, the body of Christ, with Christ the head.  It is the gathered people as we are now and the scattered church we will be tomorrow.  Let us look at some of the people who mad up the early church here.  In 1848, Alexander Hall compiled the “Christian Register” containing a statistical report of the Christian Churches in Europe and America, the first ever compiled from the records that were kept.  It is a rare work.  It was reprinted by the College of the Bible in 1948.  It listed the name of the county, of the church, the number of members, the pastor, and a leading member.  Five churches were listed in Nelson County.  Bloomfield had 105 members, the minister was Jarvis McKay, and a leading member was John Stone.

            John Stone came to Nelson County from Fairfax County, Virginia before Kentucky was a state.  He had the house that is still standing on what most of us know as the Eli Brown Farm on the Springfield Road.  He and his family were active in the church.  Haden Edwards married twice, two of the Stone girls; Sally Edwards married John McKay, parents of Jarvis McKay; George O’Neal married Eleanor McKay.  The Moores sisters: Elizabeth (Bess) Graham, Catherine (Kat) Terrell, and Sarah Moore are descendents of them.  Bob Moore is Sarah’s son and was the organist here in the fifties.  Their father, Rueben Moores, was an elder many years.  Volney Gore married Elizabeth Stone.  Their son, Thomas Jefferson Gore was a minister in Australia.  He was called the Grand Old Man of Australia.  He was to them what J.W. McGarvey was to the Christian Church in America.

            Another son, Minor Gore, was clerk of the church.  His granddaughter, Willette Gore Yewell gave me this early record of our beginning, our separation on into the 1890’s.  Micajah Glascock married Rebecca Stone; Hugh Berkeley married Sally Glascock; the sister of Jarvis McKay; Emily McKay married Gregory Glascock; some of us remember Eli Brown, Mrs. Sarah Stone Sterrett and Miss Sallie Dorsey.  Micajah Glascock was a druggist and lived on the Taylorsville Road where Hagan has his antique shop.

            Another branch of the Stones lived where June Dawson lives.  Isaac Stone, born in 1793 and died in 1873 married first Sallie Lockhart Presley, then he married Elizabeth Lewis.  His son, Davis H. Stone, married Annie Stone, daughter of Thomas Stone of Spencer County.  Margaret Green married William Stone of that family.  Harvey Stone lived on the old Bardstown Road on a farm before you get to Kenneth Drake’s back over the hill way off the road.  His son, Captain Jim Stone, married Lura Rose of Chaplin, daughter of Tobias Rose, a sister of George Rose, a charter member of the Chaplin Christian Church.  Captain Jim and Lura Stone lived where J.W. Royalty  lives.  They were in this church.  Her sister married Alfred Reynolds, a pastor here.

            P.S. Whitesides came to Nelson County from Shelby County.  His wife was Marinda Clark.  She wrote an article on creeds.  It was published in a book, “The Bible Advocate.”  Her great-granddaughter, Betty Jean Whitesides Hibbs has the book.

            They had two sons who were active here.  A.L. Whitesides married Emma Stone, daughter of Captain Jim and Lura Stone.  Their daughter, Virginia, married Elmer Green.

            Spilsby Stone was of another Stone family near Fairfield, Kentucky.  His grandson, Elijah Stone married Margaret Bell.  Their daughter, Catherine Bell Stone, married William Whitesides.  Four of their sons were active here.  Shirley Whitesides married Vernon Miller.  He was an elder and taught the men’s class for years.  Collis Whitesides, who as a deacon, married Obie Briggs.  John Whitesides, a deacon, married Jennie Flemming.  She was a leader in the women’s organization of the church and  of the district.  She also taught a class for many years and was the church clerk for  a period of time.  Pem Whitesides, an elder, married Stella Prewitt.  She was president of the Ladies’ Aid.  The kitchen was equipped under her leadership.  Their daughter, Betty Whitesides Hibbs, is still active here.

            Samuel Rogers, an early minister (born 1800, died 1867 married ? Irvin, a relative of Sue Anna Irvin Westerman.  Patsy Seay and Sue Anna are the first women to serve as elders here.  Eleanor Shields was the first woman t serve as chair of the Board, from 1979 to 1983.

            Robert Graham, President of the College of the Bible, assisted by the pastor, B.M. Roebuck in 1890, held the first ordination service for officers of this church.

            There were many families that intermarried, many have been mentioned.  Also there are the Green’s, Duncan’s, Davis’, Lewis’, Berkeley’s and Milton’s.

            Leven Green, wife Mary Ellis, came to Nelson County as a Revolutionary War Veteran and live on the Springfield Road about 1 ½ miles out of Bloomfield.  The farm was in the family until recently when Elizabeth Green Leathers sold it in 1982?? Leven’s son, Zachariah Green, already mentioned, had two sons who were active here.  Leven Green married Henrietta Milton.  He was the grandfather of Henry Green who lives across the street from the church, Elmer Green already mentioned.  Henrietta Green Taggert who was active here, Grace Green Snider, who taught Sunday School and was the grandmother of Tim Ballard who is a member here were also granddaughters of Leven Green.

            Ellen Green Parrish, daughter of Zachariah Green, great grandson of the first Leven Green, is the oldest member.  She taught the kindergarten class for years.  She married Harry Parrish.  Two of her sons are active here.  Bill Parrish married Gladys Ritter.  Bill has served as elder and is a pillar of this church.  Gladys is a teacher.  John Parrish married Thelma Sampson.  He is a deacon.  They have a son Billy and two grandchildren, Billy and Lisa, who are active here.

            Thonmas Duncan Green married two Berkeley sisters; first Susan Berkeley, mother of Margaret Green Stone; then Elizabeth Berkeley.  Many of their children were active here.  Wilson and Berkeley Green became ministers.  Robert Rice Green (named for a minister Robert Rice) was an elder here.  His son, John McGraw Green, married Ruth Rowland.  Their daughter, Ruth Wilson Green married Robert C. Strain.  They were ordained as ministers here.  Pat Snider Ballard wrote of the ordination in the county paper, The Kentucky Standard.  Enclosed is a copy of this article.

            Other members of Robert Green’s family who attended this church are Ellis Green Goodloe, Frances Green Bufkin, Henry Green and Elizabeth Green who taught a class.

            A brother of Robert was Ellis G. Green, an elder many years.  His daughter, Elizabeth Green Leathers has been a member longer than anyone at the present time, although not the oldest.  She grew up here.

            Scarlett Berkeley married Elizabeth Davis the second time.  There were four children, Jephtha, Jonathan, Nancy and Elizabeth.  They bought the land out Green’s Lane in Spencer County in 1814.  It has been in the family since that time.  Wilson Green, his sister Ellis Green Goodloe, their great, great grandchildren, still live there.  This is the family of Thomas Green that married the two Berkeley girls, Susan and Elizabeth.  Daughters of Jephtha and Rhoda Wilson Berkeley.  Nancy Berkeley married Thomas Duncan, a brother of Fanny Green.  They lived where Charles and Mary Cummins live on the Taylorsville Road at the edge of town.

            A daughter, Millie Green Duncan married Charles Dawson.  Their great grandson was R.R. Dawson.

 

                                                April 29, 1950

            As has been said of Randall, “He is humble, self-effacing and gentle, I have known few people in my life who have given as much of themselves, their worldly goods and their affection to so many.”

            That is true.  Anything he thought he church needed, he got it.  His wife, June, still living, is also very loving and giving.  A very fine lady.  His son, Judge Thomas Dawson is a member at Bloomfield Christian Church.

            A great granddaughter of Thomas and Nancy Duncan, Ann Montgomery Duncan, married John Jenkins.  Two daughters were active here.  Elizabeth Jenkins Brent, and Sue Jenkins married Hewitt McClaskey.  Their son, Charles T. McClaskey, married Carolyn Cary.  He is an elder and has served as chairman of the board and treasurer.  Their son, Jackie, is also a member.

            Daniel Lewis lived out the lane past Harold Miller’s off the Fairfield Road.  John D. Lewis was an elder.  Hodges married into that family.  Also, John Berkeley married Fanny Lewis.  Searles Lewis lived on Tunnel Mill Road on the Ham Shewmaker place.  Son, Frank Lewis, married Nancy Berkeley.  Scarlet Berkeley Duncan married Mary Lewis, daughter of Searles Lewis.

            These are a few of the people who made up the church in earlier years.  It is time to get back to the building of a house of worship.

            In 1849 trustees were appointed to buy ground and superintend the construction of the building.  Trustees were Bros. Haden Edwards, John Stone, M. Glascock, John D. Lewis, and Thomas Duncan Green.  David Cakendolpher, Sr., made the bricks, and George Batcheldor, Poterfield Hodges, and Field Watson, erected the building.  It was received by the church on December 2, 1849.  At this time, 182 members had been received into the church.  The church was remodeled in 1896, adding a self-supporting roof, a vestibule, a baptistery, and stained glass windows.

            We shared a minister with Chaplin and other nearby churches for many years.

            In 1947 trustees were appointed to purchase the house and lot adjacent to the church on which to build a parsonage.  The property many years before was the home of Fanny Duncan Green.  The trustees were Bill Parrish, John Whitesides, and M.W. Seay.  The old house was torn down and a new brick parsonage was constructed.  John Gardner and his family were the first to live there.  He was the first minister to preach every Sunday for this congregation.

            In 1949 a constitution and by laws were drawn up and the deed was made to read  Christian Church, Disciples of Christ.

            As the church building was 100 years old in 1949, a centennial celebration was held.  Dr. George N. Moore of the College of the Bible gave the centennial address.

            In Kentucky, Disciples of Christ founded the three oldest institutions of their kind among the Disciples of Christ-Transylvania University, Midway Kentucky Orphan School (now called Midway College), and the College of the Bible (now the Lexington Theological Seminary).  I have had a chart enlarged showing the growth of Transylvania and our seminary.

            Sunday School since the mid-nineteenth century has been an important part of learning in the church.  The dedication of the Educational Building was held in 1950.  John Gardner, pastor, gave the morning address.  For the afternoon session, Rev. Forrest L. King, the Secretary-Director of the Christian Church in Kentucky, gave the devotional.  Dr. Howard Short of the College of the Bible delivered the dedicatory address.  Special music was given by the Midway Symphonettes.

            A membership of 212 was on roll at this time.  We had ten classes with teachers and assistants.

            For many years we have had community Vacation Bible School.  The women of the church have long been active in the Missionary work of the church.  The Christian Women’s Board of Mission and Ladies Aid Society in 1952 became the Christian Women’s Fellowship.  The outreach giving was accepted as a goal for the whole church.  Under our pastor, Elmore Ryle, we set aside a certain percent of the total budget for World Outreach giving.  In 1966 we reached 20% giving to Outreach.

            With John Jackson, our minister, we received the “Kentucky Rural Church Award” for three years.  This award was given through the University of Kentucky.  Grace Green Snider’s daughter, Pat Snider Ballard, was a journalist.  She was very helpful in helping us to win the award.

            In 1978 our church building was declared a historic landmark by the Kentucky Heritage Commission, signed by Julian Carroll, Governor of Kentucky.

            At the General Assembly of the Christian Church in Owensboro, Kentucky, 1984, all churches with seminary student pastors were recognized by being presented a chalice.  See ours on display.  Members of these churches were asked to serve as deacons in the communion service at the assembly.

            We have had a youth group since 1952.  All youth of the community are invited to join in the worship and fellowship.  Oh, that goes further back than that.  When I was in high school (1920-1924), we had Christian Endeavor with the Presbyterians.  We had that for many years.

            Community services are encouraged and supported in: Good Friday Service, Sunrise Easter Service, Thanksgiving Service, and a Christmas Cantata.  In extremely cold weather, Sunday School and morning worship have sometimes been held together.

            What is the church?  Jesus the head and people are the body of the church.  What kind of history are we writing? I Peter 2: 4-6 says “Come to him, to that living son, rejected by men but in God’s sight chosen and precious; and like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

            We have reviewed our past.  For the future let us be living stones being built into spiritual houses.

 

           

 

           

 

 

 

APPENDIXES

 

A.       Statement of the Reformers taken from early minutes of when they were still meeting at the Baptist Church.

B.       Genealogy

C.       Copy of the Deed for the land

D.       List of Ministers

E.        Newspaper Report of First Ordination (Re-typed)

F.        Newspaper Report of Mortgage Burning

G.       Newspaper Report and Photos of 150th Celebration

H.       Copy of the program for the Anniversary Celebration

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

APPENDIX A

 

Statement of the Reformers taken from first minutes.  The following is the first page of the minutes while they were still meeting at the Baptist Church on alternate Sundays.

 

…seventy-three of those in sympathy with the reformed teachings and doctrines, which set forth the tenets upon which they were willing to reunite with the Baptist brethren.

 

            Whereas there seems to be so great a difference of sentiment among us as to make a union upon proper and fair principles impracticable, we deem it necessary to let our brethren who differ with us know how far we are willing to go and what we are willing to submit to:

 

            1st. As all coercive means are incompatible with the spirit and genius of the religion we profess, we are unwilling to go into any proscriptive measures whatever farther than the rules and constitution of our church go, we wish our house to be open and free for every preacher of every denomination to preach in accordance with the provision of our rules up to the first of January 1833.

            2nd. We are willing to be governed by the articles of the general union and not make a frivolous difference of opinion a bar to union and fellowship, but not to be tied down to the dictation of any man or set of men which is not in strict accordance with the Oracles of God.

            3rd.  We cannot be deprived of the rights of conscience and of the privileges of reading, hearing and understanding for ourselves.

            4th.  We are willing to unite with all our Baptist brethren who will lay aside all malice and all guile, hypocrisy, envying, evil speaking, evil surmising, etc., and unite upon the above-named principles and live in obedience to all the precepts of the Gospel taking the word of God as the only infallible system for faith and practice.

 

These are the seventy-three who withdrew:

 

Sally Edwards                          Sarah Stone                              William Davis

Mary Wilson Green                  Jane Murphy                            Green Duncan

Elizabeth Stone             Susan Lewis                             Thomas Milton

Sarah McKay                           Saphira Hahn                            James Foster

Fanny Stone                             Lucy Maxley                            Travis Wilson

Hannah Coombs                       Elizabeth Lewis             John Stone

Malinda Davis                          Moriah Brewer             William Hahn

Anna Brown                             Uly Hobbs                                James Milton

Nancy Porter                            Cytha Madson                          Jacob Pence

Rebekah Lewis             Cinderilla McKay                     James Porter

Elizabeth Stone             Milly Green Milton                    Mark Brown

Emaly McKay                          Elizabeth Minor                        Daniel Lewis

Amanda McMay                      Amandy Lewis             Surls Lewis

Fanny Green                             Ellin Stone                                W. Murphy

Ivy Green Coombes                 William Coombs                       Richard Milton

Henrietta Green Leven  Haden Edwards                        Nelson Coombes

Sarah McKay                           Rease Wilson                           Richard Milton, Jr.

Susan Hays                              John Lewis                               Thomas Hobbs, Jr.

Matildy Hodges                        Jonathan D. Lewis                    Robert Allen

Charlotty McKay                     Jarvis McKay                           William Hahn

Susan Hobbs                            John P. Hodges                        Christopher Hahn

Nancy Brown                           Samuel S. Brown                      Vardeman Hahn

Harriet Lewis                            Zachariah Green                       Charles Milton

                                                                                                Joseph, the property

                                                                                                of Elizabeth Minor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

APPENDIX B

 

 

          Robert P. Moore contributed a genealogical breakdown of some of the original membership.

 

I.          James Edwards, born 1720, lived in Fairfax County, Virginia, 1730- 1785.  He

moved to Nelson County, Kentucky in 1785 and then to Brown County, Ohio in 1796.  He died in 1805.  He married Sarah Everett (also called Sarah Jacobs) in Fairfax County, Virginia.

 

A.     William Edwards married Nancy Hammond of Fairfax County, Virginia and moved to Nelson County, Kentucky.

 

1.      Annie Edwards married James Brown in 1802.  Their children were Haden E. Stigler and Cinderella.

2.      Haden married and d.s.p. Nelson County, Kentucky 1802.

3.      Travis married in Nelson County, had four daughters and a son Everett.  He died in Louisiana in 1804.

4.      Sally married John McKay in 1806 and moved to Daviess County.  She died in 1875.

5.      Milliane married William D. Stone in Nelson County.  Child : James E. Haden b 1811 SWD.

 

II.                 Joseph Hobbs lived on the farm in 1885 which is owned by John Robert and

Eleanor Shields.

 

A.     Susan Hobbs married William Stone.

 

1.      Susan Stone married ? Hays

 

a.       Frances Hays married Will Eddleman.  Child: Mary

Eddleman married Guy Dawson.

b.      Susan Ureth Hays married ? Barker in Lexington.

c.       Amelia Hays married Thomas Moore.  Child: Rebecca Moore married David L. Humphrey.

d.      Rebecca Hays married Milton (Milt) Murphy, Chaplin, Kentucky.

e.       John William Hays married Sarah Hardesty.

 

B.     Thomas Hobbs is buried on his father’s farm.

 

There were two distinct Lewis families.  Searles Lewis of Fauquier County, Virginia married Harriett Dozier.  Daniel Lewis and Hodges of Loudoun County Virginia

Gores from Loudon county, Virginia.

Lucy Moxley daughter of George Moxley (Revolution veteran) and wife

Elizabeth McKay of Fairfax County, Virginia.

         William Murphy married Jane Neal.

         James Porter married Nancy Mason of Loudon County, Virginia.

         Hahn came from Frederick County, Virginia.

 

 

 

 

APPENDIX C

 

(hand written deed of sale from Henry Russell to the Christian Church.) dated February 3, 1849.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

APPENDIX D

 

         List of ministers who have served the church as accurately as could be obtained.  Some of these are from a history written by Ellis G. Green.  List from 1900 was compiled by a former minister, Roger Amason, who wrote a history of the church in 1953.

 

Jarvis McKay – 1832                                       F. Marshall Stroker - 1926

         Brown                                                     Martin R. Carlisle – Jan. 1927

         Fowler                                                    W.H. Tharp – Jan 1928 – Dec. 1934

   J.R. Lucas – 1860                                            J.A. Alexander - 1935                      

   Austin Taylor – 1864                                        John S. Schnedl – Mar. 1936 – Dec. 1937

McAllen                                                  J.E. Caudell – Jan. 1938 – Dec.                    

Wyllis                                                      George McLain – Jan. 1943 – Oct. 1943                 

James Bell – 1871                                   Glen B. Murdock – Oct. 1943 – Dec. 1943 

Ben Cox                                                  B. Frank Lewis – Jan. 1944 - 1945

Alfred Reynolds                                                John W. Gardner – Apr. 1946 – Jan. 15, 1950

G.G. Taylor – 1881                                          Roger I. Amason – Mar. 1950 – Aug. 1956

Will Rogers                                                      Richard White – Aug. 1953 – Aug. 1956

F.M. Rains                                                       Wm. I. Kerr – Sept. 1956 – Feb. 1958        

R.M. Roebuck – 1890                                     John Jackson – June 1958 – June 1961

John Marccum – 1893                                      Elmore Ryle – Aug. 1961 – July 1962

Couch – 1896                                        James McCall – Aug. 1962 – Dec. 1964

E.S. Baker – 1901                                          James McClard – Apr. 1965 – June 1967

J.B. Hundley – 1904 – October 1905              (asst) Howard Fawbush – July 1966 – Aug. 1967

T.W. Harrison – December 1, 1905               Dennis P. Smith – July 1967 – March 1969 

Bro. Hall – 1911 for part of year                       Marshal Fraley – July 1969 – Nov. 1973

W.W. Wyatt for balance of year 1911              Neil C. Thompson – June 1974 – Dec. 1979

Bernard Gwenstein – January 1, 1913               Kenneth E. Waller – April 1980 – Nov. 1983

Paul B. Rains – Mar. 1, 1915 – Oct. 1916        Charles H. Brooks – Jan 1984 -      

R.N. Cloyd – March 1, 1917                          

Joseph Myers, Jr.

J.E. Barbee

  W.S. Sanford – September 1918

   Charles Dearborne – 1923

   Joe H. Anderson – 1925

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

APPENDIX E

 

FIRST ORDINAITON IN HISTORY OF BLOOMFIELD CHRISTIAN CHURCH

(Retyped from The Kentucky Standard, Bardstown, KY Thursday, March 28, 1957)

 

By: Pat Snider Ballard

 

In the first ordination service to be held in the Bloomfield Christian Church since its establishment nearly a century and a quarter ago, the father-father-in-law of the candidates will invoke the blessing of God upon them and pray for their consecration to a life of Christian Services.

The ceremony of the laying on of hands will ordain Mr. and Mrs. Robert C. Strain as ministers of education in the Disciples of Christ Church.  The ordination service will take place at 7:00 p.m. Friday, April 5, in the Bloomfield Christian Church.

The elders of the church who will preside are John M. Green, father of Mrs. Strain; Rueben Moores, who at 91 is the oldest member of the Bloomfield congregation, and James A Sutherland and Gordon Adam, youngest elders of the church.

 

Former Ruth Green

 

Mrs. Strain is the former Ruth Wilson Green, who was reared in the fellowship of this church.  Mr. Strain is minister of education at the First Christian Church, Jackson Miss.

The ordination sermon will be delivered by Dr. Charles C. Manker, Jr., of the religious education department of The College of the Bible, Lexington.  He received his Master of Religious Education there and his Ph.D. at the University of Kentucky.

The charge to Mrs. Strain will be made by Miss Elizabeth a Hartsfield, treasurer of The College of the Bible, treasurer of the United Church Women in Kentucky, and a member of the Disciples of Christ of Higher Education.

The charge to Mr. Strain will be made by Jack M. Sherley, associate professor of pastoral counseling at The College of the Bible and chaplain at the United States Public Health Service Hospital, Lexington.  Mr. Sherley was a Navy chaplain during World War II and served with Marine units in Guam and China.

The charge of the congregation will be given by T. Vernon Greenhalgh, minister of Christian education at the First Christian Church, Paris, and student of The College of the Bible.

A former roommate of Mrs. Strain at The College of the Bible, Miss Nancy Townley-Tilson is majoring in homiletics, (preaching) at The College of the Bible.

A vocal solo, “We Would Be Building” will be presented by Arthur N. Wake, professor of church music at The College of the Bible and minister of music at Central Christian Church, Lexington.

 

Presentation by Rev. Kerr

 

As pastor of the ordaining church, the Reverend William I. Kerr will present the candidates for ordination.  It will be his duty as well to give the opening prayer, which will be followed by the Lord’s Prayer in unison; the statement of the purpose of the assembly, and the pastoral prayer.

The ceremony of the ordination will follow Dr. Manker’s sermon.  After the presentation of the candidates they will be confirmed by the congregation, and this in turn will be followed by the laying on of hands.  The newly ordained ministers will make statements and the charges will be delivered.  After the closing hymn the benediction will be pronounced by Mr. Strain, who will thenceforth be addressed by the title of reverend.  Mrs. Strain also will be permitted that title.

 

Music for the service will be by the robed choir of the church under the direction of Oren B. Theiss.  Mrs. Roy McBrayer will be at the organ.

 

Reception Will Follow

            Immediately after the service a reception for the newly ordained ministers will be held in the Fellowship Hall of the church.  The committees in charge will be Mrs. Robert Johnson Sutherland and Mrs. A. L. Campbell, table arrangements; Mrs. Pem Whitesides and Mrs. Warren C. Hibbs, floral arrangements; and Mrs. John R. Shields, Mrs. Jack Shields and Mrs. John Whitesides, refreshments.

            Mr. and Mrs. Strain met while students at the College of the Bible and were married September 8, 1956 in the church in which they will be ordained.

            Mr. Strain was born June 10, 1926, in Gooding, Idaho and was reared in Alhambra, California.  He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Clayton Strain, who now reside in Portland, Oregon.  His mother, the former Edith Crockett, was born in Scotland where her family was active in the work of the Christian Church.

            Mr. Strain received his A.B. degree at Chapman College, Orange, California and after three years of graduate study at the College of the Bible is a candidate for a B.D. degree.  He spent 21 months in the Army Medical Corps in the United States and India.  For two and a half years was Boys’ Work Secretary at the YMCA in Pasadena, California.

 

Native of Bloomfield

            Mrs. Strain was born October 29, 1931 in Bloomfield and lived in that community until adulthood.  She was a graduate from Mt. Washington High School in 1949 and received her B.S. in Education from Western Kentucky State College, Bowling Green in 1953.  The following two years she taught in the Prestonia Elementary School in Jefferson County.  She did graduate work at the College of the Bible during the 1955-56 term.

            During the summer of 1954 Mrs. Strain toured Disciples of Christ missions in Mexico and the next summer she worked at Flanner House, which is a Disciples of Christ home for underprivileged children in Indianapolis, Indiana.

            Mrs. Stain’s family has been connected with the Bloomfield Christian Church since its inception.  Her great-great grandmother, Frances Duncan Green, was one of the leaders in establishing the church, and her great-grandfather, Thomas Green, was one of those who helped obtain the land where the church now stands.  Her grandfather, the late Robert Rice Green, a well-known farmer and truck gardener f the Bloomfield community, was an elder.

            Two other of Mrs. Strain’s great-uncles, Wilson and Berkley Green, both deceased, were Christian ministers.  An uncle, Wilson Green, of Spencer County, is a deacon and chairman of the church board of Taylorsville Christian Church.  Miss Elizabeth Green, and aunt who lives n Spencer County, is a substitute Sunday school teacher in Bloomfield.

 

 

Mother is Church Worker

            Mrs. Strain’s mother, the former Ruth Rowland, is superintendent of the primary department of the Sunday School of the Bloomfield church and is a member of the State Board of the Christian Women’s Fellowship.  A teacher for many years in the Sunday School, she is now a first-line substitute.  Mrs. Ida Wright Rowland, maternal grandmother of Mrs. Strain, taught Sunday school for many years.  The maternal grandfather of the young woman to be ordained was the late C.M. Rowland, Sr., whose blacksmith shop was a landmark for many years in Bloomfield; an aunt, Mrs. Woodrow Masden (Nancy Rowland) of Shepherdsville, formerly taught Sunday school here.

            The rest of Mrs. Strain’s family is composed of two brothers and a sister. Jack Green and Miss Betty Green are students at Western Kentucky State College and Frank Green, at home.

            Miss Betty Green, Mrs. Strain’s sister, is secretary of the Disciples Student Fellowship at Western State College, and is a teacher in the primary department of the Sunday school at First Christian Church in Bowling Green.  Her two brothers, Jack and Frank, are junior deacons in the Bloomfield church.  Jack is a student at Western and Frank farms with his father.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

APPENDIX F

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

APPENDIX F(a)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

APPENDIX G

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

APPENDIX G(a)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

APPENDIX H