The History Of The First Church Of Christ

Old Rt. 10 Church Building
First Church Of Christ of Chapmanville WV
Mac Bryant Pastor
Po Box 985
Chapmanville, WV 25508
(304) 855-4080



FirstChurchOfChrist@yahoo.com

One of the oldest churches in the Chapmanville area is the First Church of Christ whose history has been traced back to 1897. It was in that year that two patriarchs of the Christian Church in Logan County, Fulton Ferrell and Uncle Dyke Garrett, laid the foundation for the church. Services were held at homes and other available places until 1909, When A.G. Chapman deeded the Church the land where the Chapmanville Church of God now stands, near the bridge on the Crawley Creek Road. The building erected on this site was used for about 30 years. In 1939 the Church was given land along what is now W.V. Rt. 10, A building was erected on this site and was used for about 54 years. Mrs. Albert "Aunt Julia" Chapman was a major contributor to the building of the church. The Church building suffered major damage from the record flood of 1963 which inundated much of the town of Chapmanville. The Guyandotte River put six feet of water in the main sancturary of the Church and destroyed everything in the basement. While the building and the pews were being cleaned and repaired, services were held in the West Chapmanville Grade School. In 1969 another flood put six feet of water in the basement, but the damage was far less than that in 1963. The Wednesday evening Prayer service during this week in 1969 was held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. R.K. Hale, but the building was ready for morning worship the following Sunday. In 1990, Marlieen Porter gave the Church land at the end of Garnet Avenue, next to the Guyandotte River and adjacent to the Robert C. Byrd Freeway (Corridor G) and the CSX Railroad. In 1991 the congregation voted to erect a Fellowship Hall on this property, to be used in conjunction with the building on the Rt. 10 property. In 1993 the congregation voted to sell the Rt. 10 property, to divide the newly erected Fellowship Hall with a partition for church services, and to build a sancturary onto the fellowship hall. Services were held in the partitioned fellowship hall until 1995 when the new sancturaty was completed. When the First Church of Christ moved into the first building on the Crawley Creek Road, Uncle Dyke Garrett often filled the pulpit. Another minister at the Church was J. Green McNelly, who was baptized by Uncle Dyke. Rev. McNelly continued to preach after he was elected Clerk of the Logan County Court, a position he held for many years. Another prominent minister who often preached at the church was A.J. Ccoffey, who was pastor of the First Christian Church of Logan for many years. Other ministers who preached in the old building were W.J. Reedy, Grover Lowe and Roy Fleshman. According the records of the Church, the following have been pastors: John Mullins 1948; Clinton Looney 1950-51; Bill Morgan 1952-53; Kermit Hunt 1953 Russell Hall (no date given); Bill Meade 1957-58; John Fordyce (no date given) Olsen Gore, Sr. 1959-61; Jim Viers 1961-62; Bill Poling 1962; Harold Brammer, a student minister, 1963 Delbert Lawhun 1964-66; Joe Ellison, a student minister 1966-70 and full time pastor 1970-74 Frank Moore 1975; Bobby Joe Friend 1975-77; Gary Mitchell 1977; Phillip Lee 1978-89; Drexel Meade 1989-90 John Frye 1990-92; Greg Dalton 1993-95; Drexel Meade and Glen Mac Bryant 1996; Glen Mac Bryant 1996 to present. The First Church of Christ traces its begining back to the first Pentecost in 33 A.D., and is a firm believer in the inspired word of God!