Trinity Baptist Church
    The first services of this church were held in Dorris Loose Floor on South Campbell Street October 18, 1931 A church was organized by Rev. E 0. Cottrell and the following charter members: Mrs. E. 0. Cottrell, Virginia Cottrell, Dorothy Cottrell, , Mr. H L. Brantley, Mr. Ranson Little, Mr. Charles Wilson, Mrs. Charles Wilson, Ethel Wilson, Margarette Wilson, Mr. Arnold Campbell,  Mrs. W. W. Garrott, Ruth Garrott, Pollard Garrott, and Susan Hooser.
    Soon services were moved to the home of Mr. Ranson Little, who lived on South Virginia Street. A short time afterward, the Atkins home on the corner of 17th and Walnut became the home of the Walnut Street Baptist Church. Rev. Cottrell continued as pastor until December 31, 1935
After the leaving of Rev. Cottrell, two half time supply pastors were called for six months, namely J. J. Thomas and George Compton.
    On June 1, 1936 the Rev Edgar L Pendley was called as the second full time pastor and served for three years During his pastorate the present church site was purchased and the congregation moved to the corner or 18th and College Streets.
    Rev. J. J. Jenkins was called as pastor in June, 1939. At this time Sunday School was held each Sunday and preaching twice monthly. Under the leadership of Rev Jenkins, additional Sunday School rooms were added to the original building. Early in 1940, the church voted (because of location ) to change its name from Walnut Street Baptist Church to Trinity Baptist Church. Rev. Jenkins remained with the church until February 28, 1944.
    In April, 1944, Rev Olen Sisk was called as pastor and the church went back to full time services. New pews were purchased and a choir loft was added. Rev. Sisk served the church until October 1948.
In the fall of 1948 and spring of 1949 the Rev. Jack Downs served as supply pastor.
     On April 1, 1949, a student at Southern Seminary, the Rev. Francis Batson, became pastor and served the church until the spring of 1951.
    Bro. Lonnie Wells served as supply pastor during the summer of 1951. On the first Sunday of September, 1951, the Rev. Harold 0. Waitman assumed the pastorate. During the spring of 1952, the auditorium was remodeled.
    In 1953, the property next to the church known as the Wolfe property, was purchased to supply additional Sunday School rooms. The next year a basement was built; and in the summer of 1958, the present educational building was completed.
    Services in the old auditorium were held for the last time on August 15, 1963. The new building was completed by Sunday, March 15, 1964. To make this building possible, the corner lot across College Street and the J. R. Williams home (1108 E. 18th Street) were purchased to provide parking facilities.
    Resigning the first week of June 1965, Rev. H. 0. Waitman held his last service on July 4 1965. Rev. Hershel Maddox served as supply pastor for the summer months of 1965.
    On August 29, 1965, the Rev. Marvin E. Hines, Sr., was called as pastor and began his tenure of service October 3, 1965. The church acquired its first parsonage during September, 1965. A lot known as The Aldridge property, was purchased in October, 1967, to be used for social and recreational purposes Rev. Hines resigned as pastor on the first Sunday of January, 1972, and left on the last Sunday of the same month.
    For seven months the Rev. W. B. Ladd served as interim pastor
    Rev. Earl Mitchell. was called as pastor on Sunday, July 9, 1972, and held his first service on Sunday, September 2, 1972. During the past forty-one years, Trinity Church has ordained three young men as ministers: Rev. Lonnie Wells, Rev. A. J. Smith, and Rev. Bob Collins.

VIRGINIA STREET BAPTIST CHURCH
The history of Virginia Street Baptist Church dates back to 1851. It was organized by the New Providence Baptist Church (White) in whose basement the first services were held. Later the congregation moved to a log house on Thirteenth Street, thence to an old tobacco factory at Fourteenth and Virginia Streets. The congregation worshipped there for several years. According to the most reliable information available, the organization of this church was in 1851. The church moved to its present location in 1892 with Reverend E. Williams as pastor. The church expanded rapidly even in its early history. Within six months after its location at the present site, the value of the property had increased from $3000.00 to $15,000.00. By 1958 when the church observed its 108th Anniversary, the property was valued at $150,000.
The foundation for the annex was laid during the administration of the late Rev. N.M.D. Perdue. A concrete floor was put in the basement and the first baptistry was installed during the pastorate of the late Rev. T. Tirnberlake. A coal system was installed during the pastorate of Rev. CC. Ellis. The annex was erected in 1948 under the present administration. The house in the rear was converted to Sunday School classrooms in 1981. Many other improvements have been made under the present administration amounting to $322,688.20. The Church is now insured for $500,000.00. The church has had nine pastors including the present pastor, Dr. Amos R. Lasley, who began his services the First Sunday in June, 1944.
A non-profit organization was formed July 6, 1979 known as the Virginia Street Baptist Homes, Inc. This corporation purchased through The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) the former AME Homes, for the sum of $1,236,200.00. This is a 100 unit housing project located on 10 acres of ground on the Greenville Road. The name has been changed to WOODLAND HEIGHTS. Sister Ruth Monroe Cushenberry is its present Manager.
The Church has seventeen auxiliaries, all functioning well. Recently, the church authorized the formation of an additional singing group — the Virginia Street Baptist Church Young Adult Choir, under the direction of Mr. Eric Poole. Another auxiliary to the church was the organization of the 50 year club, August 15, 1982, with fifty three members. The Church purchased a 29 passenger bus in 1984 and a 16 passenger bus in 1985 at a total cost of $53,415.90. As a gesture to encourage higher education for its young people, the church each year gives a small scholarship to all of its young people who attend college.
As this church looks back with Pride and Joy to 135 years of existence, we look forward with hope to a future that will bring more fruitful results in serving all of the people and helping to shape GOD’S KINGDOM HERE IN THE WORLD. A.R. Lasley, Pastor Kathryn Atkins, Clerk.

Family Histories of Christian County 1797-1986
Reprinted with permission ©1986 Christian County Genealogical Society
©William Turner  ©Jim Killibrew

 
West Grove Baptist Church
    West Grove Baptist Church was organized in 1850 by a few charter members who met at the modest log home of Matthew Armstrong and organized what was then called the Liberty Baptist Church.             Among the charter members recalled from the imperfect records were: Matthew Armstrong and Annie Armstrong, his wife, Mrs. Mary Redding Long; Jesse Ford and Frankie Ford, his wife. There were a few others, but their names have been lost Rev. Holly was the minister who presided at the organization.
    After meeting for some time at the Armstrong home, the little church moved to a log structure about one mile west of Crofton at a place known as Molly Long Spring. This building belonged to another denomination, “but in those days there were few differences among christians" and the North Liberty Church was used by at least two different church groups The records are in fact mostly missing for the first forty years, however, we do know that the church building and a three acre tract was soon owned by the Baptist.
    Late in 1884, there was a division in the church. One group moved to Crofton and started a church there, calling theirs North Liberty. The other group started a church about a mile back of the present West Grove Baptist Church. This church was called West Liberty
    There are no records until 1915, but apparently the West Liberty Church was disbanded. By 1916 services had again been resumed. John Marion West delivered the dedicatory sermon He was not the pastor, but he contributed more than five hundred dollars and lumber to construct a new church. J. P Cleavenger, the pastor, stayed on the West farm and “helped cut logs and build the church”. The original floor was elevated, but it has since been leveled. Out of gratitude for Mr. West’s generosity the church was named West Grove.
    During the late 1950’s some Sunday School rooms were added.
    It is interesting to note that there is no mention of deacons during the early days of the church.
    Two oil paintings by Enos L. Hendrix—"Christ" and "The River Jordan" —were presented in 1964 to the church by him and his brother John in memory of their grandfather, J. M. West.   Later they were stolen and have never been recovered.

Pastors since 1923 have been:
 

J. H. Maddox	1923		J. J. Jenkins	1947, 1948
L L Spurlin	1924		W. J. Stewart	1949-1951, 1952
J. W. Elliott	1925, 1926, 1927		W. C. Braden	1953-1956
W. J. Stewart	1928, 1929		Coleman McConnell	1957-1963
W. J. Stewart	1930-1937		W. R. Evans	1964
J. J. Thomas	1938-1940		M. D. Moore	1965
J. L. Parker	1941		James Travis	1966
R. L. Brandenburg	1942		G. A. Humphries	1967-1968, 1969,
C. A. Ladd	1943-1945, 1946			1970, 1971, 1972-

 
West Mt. Zoar Baptist Church
    Mt. Zoar Church, Wooldridge Store, Kentucky, was organized in 1841.  Due to bad roads, distance, and Christian differences, the church became two churches in 1872, with the new half becoming West Mt. Zoar.  Mt. Zoar later became known as Kelly.
    The records of the Bethel Baptist Association for 1873 list Mt. Zoar as having one hundred fifty-four members. There are no records until 1876, at which time West Mt. Zoar is listed as having eighty-two members, showing the church must have been about equally divided when it became two. That year there were twenty-five members in Sunday School and the pastor was paid $62.50.
    There is no record of church property in the early day, so it is believed that the church met in the school house. In 1883 local expenses are listed at $600.00; and there is a stone under the present structure with that date on it; therefore, it is presumed that the church which stood until 1952 was the only building West Mt. Zoar knew until the present one was built.
    Again the records are confusing concerning this building. In 1887 the seating capacity is listed at 400. A year later it is listed as holding 300; two years later it again is listed as holding 400; in 1891 it is listed as holding 350; and again in 1894 the seating capacity is listed at 400. For several years the property is valued at $1,000.00. Later the same property is listed at $800.00; then as low as $500.00 By 1924 it is listed at 51,500.00, but by 1932, the deep depression year, it again dropped to $500.00.
    In 1958 Sunday School rooms were added to the church; and again during the 1960s were Sunday School rooms added. The present pew’s were purchased from Edgewood when they built their new sanctuary. Probably, this church holds an all-time record for having the most air conditioners  stolen.
This led to the installation of central heating and cooling in 1971.
    The good men of God who have served West Mt. Zoar have been a good hearted, hardy lot. They have been paid as low as $5.00 per month and as high as $400.00 per month.

The following men have served as pastors:
 

J. J. Barrows	1882		J. J. Thomas	1928-193 2
J. I. Hopson	1884		J. T. Spurlin	1933
A. C. Dorris	1885-1886		J. J. Thomas	1934
J. W. Boyd	1888-1889		Jewell Pendley	1935-1936
B. M. Bogard	1890-1891		L. L. Spurlin	1937-1938
P. E. Herndon	1892-1893		N. B. Sizemore	1939, 1940
F. W. Whitenbracker	1895		J. J. Thomas	1941 -1943
U. A. Ranson	1896-1899		Norris G. Hite	1944
0. P. Maddox	1900		J. H. Lyon	1945
F. W. Whitenbracker	1901 -1903		Graden Parker	1946-1947
J. U. Spurlin	1904		Harold Waitman	1948
L L Spurlin	1905-1911		Ewing Randolph	1949-1951
J. P. Cleavenger	1912		W. J. Stewart	1951 -1954
P. A. Thomas	191 4-1 916		Lonnie Wells	1954-1957
L L. Spurlin	1918-1923		Larry Adams	1958-1959
W. B. Hammack	1924		Texile Pyle	1960-1962
L. L. Spurlin	1925		William Davis	1963-1965
J. T. Lewis	1926		McKinley Moore	1966-1967
Kendell Thomas	1927		Donald Mock	1968-

 
West Union Baptist Church
    West Union Church was organized on Sunday, July 19, 1891 at a neighborhood schoolhouse known as West’s Seminary, where its services were held for several years. It started with ten members; of whom only eight can be recalled: Mr. and Mrs. S. M. Cowan, Mr. and Mrs. F. M. Cowan, Mrs. Mahala Tucker, and Mrs. Mary E. Tucker, from Mt. Tabor; Mrs. Jane Robinson, from Pleasant Hill church; and Mrs. Willie Robinson Lacy, from Mt. Moriah church.
    Four ministers were present. Calvin Meacham, J. E. Baggett, M. V. Lyon, and J. L. Lindsey. With its organization perfected, the little church at once opened its doors and admitted new members—W J. Powell, H. P. Cowan, J. W. O'Daniel, Kelly M Ward (or Word), Mollie H. Goodman, and John
O'Daniel —all candidates for baptism.
    After the church had been in existence a little more than a year a crisis arose, Pleasant Hill church, a few miles away, made overtures for a consolidation, with an offer to build a new house of worship at a midway point. A committee attended a meeting September 17, 1892, and after a thorough  discussion the proposition was declined by the close vote of 14 to 12. The church continued to meet in the schoolhouse and gradually increased in membership. On February 12, 1898, it was decided to build a home of its own. They lost no time in erecting the present building.

Pastors have been:
 

C. M. Wells	1891 -1892		L. L. Spurlin	1928-1940
I.E. Baggett	1892-1893		J. E. Craig	1941-1947
J. J. Goodman	1893-1896		Marvin Stinson	1948-1952
J. H. Newman	1896-1902		C. W. Stewart	1953
J. B. Stuart	one year		Melvin A. Johnson	1954
B. F Hyde	1903-1909		Eurie Powell	1955
L L. Spurlin	1909-1910		J. H. Maddox, Jr.	1956
B. F. Hyde	1911-1912		J. E. Craig	1957-1960
T T. Powell	1913		Raymond Deason	1961-1962
W M. Turley	1915-1919		Ed Mathis	1963
C. H. Foster	1920		Wm. McKenzie, Jr.	1964-1967, 1968
Ralph B. White	1921		Larry Littlefield	1969, 1970
E. L. Pendley	1923-1925, 1926,1927		Frank E. Stallins	1971-

Westwood Church of Christ
America has been a leader in the world in allowing people to think and investigate freely in matters of religion and other areas of knowledge. This social climate has served well to permit men the freedom to search the scriptures and call people to God.
About the turn of the nineteenth century many men from different religious groups began advocating a unity of all believes. They reasoned that the only way this could occur would be for people to drop all non biblical names and creed books and return to the Bible as the only authority in religion.
These movements took place in different areas of the young nation, totally independent of each other. Finally they began to overlap and work together. They were known by various names, such as Reformers, Disciples and Christians.
In 1832, this movement reached the small Western Kentucky town of Hopkinsville. The first little group of disciples in Hopkinsville had sixteen members. They appointed three elders and two deacons and purchased a meeting place on the east side of Virginia Street between Sixth and Seventh Streets.
The little church grew rapidly until its facilities on Virginia Street became inadequate. So in the winter of 1849 the church purchased a lot on the corner of Ninth and Liberty Streets. A building was completed in 1851. This building later became the Ninth Street Christian Church.
In 1887, the church purchased an organ over the objections of some of its members. Finally unable to stop the
use of the organ the minority withdrew in 1892 and began meeting in the home of Mr. and Mrs. G.A. Hille who lived on Jessup Avenue. They met there about five years until they outgrew the house.
In 1897, the members purchased a lot on Second Street and Cleveland Avenue. A new building was erected and the church chose the name Cleveland Avenue Church of Christ. But many people referred to it as Hille’s Chapel.
The church again became too large for the facilities so in 1917 they purchased a lot on the corner of 7th. and Cleveland Streets. In 1922, they began their worship in their new facilities and became known as the 7th. and Cleveland Church of Christ.
The church again outgrew its facilities. In 1954 the 7th. and Cleveland Church purchased land on Country Club Lane at Givens Avenue for the purpose of beginning a second Church of Christ in Hopkinsville. A new building was finished in 1960 and the new congregation became known as the Southside Church of Christ.
Meanwhile the 7th. and Cleveland Church continued to grow until once again its facilities became inadequate. So the church purchased a tract of land on West Seventh Street on the corner of Westwood Drive. A new building was started in March 1972. The new building was first used in July 1973. It has a seating capacity of 750 with plenty of classrooms for the educational program. Thus the 7th. and Cleveland Church became the Westwood Church of Christ.

Family Histories of Christian County 1797-1986
Reprinted with permission ©1986 Christian County Genealogical Society
©William Turner  ©Jim Killibrew

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