Our Heritage

Brother F.C. Sowell held two tent meetings years before the Spring Hill Church of Christ was established.  The seed, which is the word of God (Luke 8:11 ), was sown at that time.  Later, a few Christians began to conduct worship services, the first being held on May 1, 1915 .  Seventeen people were present for the first service.

The first gospel meeting for the newly formed church was held by Brother E.A. Elam.  Brother H.W. Rye held meetings the next two years.  The services were held for three years each Sunday afternoon in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church building.

The elders who served at that time were Brothers Lee Prentice, Albert Carpenter and R.L. Hays.  The deacons were Jim Goad, J.W. Beasley and J.A.C. Jones.  Brother W.L. Green served as treasurer.  In the year 1918, the elders bought lots on Depot Street from Brother Charlie Mahon, and the first building owned by Spring Hill Church of Christ was erected. 

Brother Rye held the first meeting in the new church building.  In the years following, gospel meetings were held by such men as C.M. Pullias, Ben Harding and Andy Largen.  The church had preachers from David Lipscomb College once a month.  Brother Clifford was one of those who came from time to time.  In those early years of the church’s existence, the weekly contributions were often just two or three dollars.

Bible class teachers in those days were Brother R.L. Hays, Sister R.L. Hays, Sister J.A.C. Jones and Sister Will Green.  During the first years in the new building there were no classrooms.  They divided into different groups in the auditorium.  When someone obeyed the gospel they were taken to a little creek not far away to be baptized.

In 1936 the Tennessee Orphans’ Home moved to Spring Hill from Columbia .  There were a total of forty-eight (48) children under the supervision of Brother S.O. Owens.  With those additional people, it was necessary to build three classrooms.  With a rather steady increase in number, especially children, the church began to hold classes outside under the trees and put chairs in the aisles.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         By this time, the elders of years before were gone.  The names of three men were put before the church for consideration for serving as elders.  Those men, W.B. Richter, W.A. Walker and Ed Smith, were approved and appointed to be elders in 1947.  

As time went by the old building was just not large enough to meet the needs for seating, classrooms, etc.  In a report made by Brother Ed Smith, he said, “With only six or eight wage earning families in the congregation, there was only one thing to do and that was to make an appeal for support for a new building.  The good Lord blessed us abundantly in this effort.  We set aside a certain day for a special contribution in our own congregation.  With this, and the goodness of many Christians, we now have a nice meeting house on Highway 31 with a seating capacity of four hundred…”   In 1964 an annex was completed and this gave the brethren an addition of a fellowship room (which was also used for several classes) and four other classrooms making a total of fifteen classrooms.  In 1997, one of the classrooms was converted to a church library with the remaining classrooms further enlarging the fellowship room.  

Numerous preachers have held gospel meeting at Spring Hill in years past including:  Andy Largen, H.W. Rye, C.M. Pullias, Gus Nichols, F.C. Sowell, Ben Harding, George DeHoff, Willard Collins, Bob Anderson, Roger Mills, Wayne Poucher, Myron Keith, Bill Smotherman, Dean Buchanan, Billy Brewer, John Hurt, Bob Kerce, Danny Cottrell, Curtis Cates,  Ted Burleson,  Curtis Dowdy, Roger Banks, Elmer Lusk, Billy Bland, Coy Hathcock, Mike Greene and Randy Kersey.

According to available information, it seems that Brother H.W. Rye was the first full-time preacher with this congregation.  Others who have served over the years include: Charles Brewer, Thomas J. Wagner, Steve North, Joe K. Alley, Roger Mills, Hillard Storey, Enoch Thweet, A.T. Pate, Rudolph Hunt, Harold Baker, Bert Brown, Harry Anderson, Dean Buchanan, Bobby Williams, David Swanger, Glen Alexander, and Jonathan Jones II who serves as the current preacher having been here since January 1, 2004 .

Men who have served as elders are:   Lee Prentice, R.L. Hays, Albert Carpenter, Charles Mahon, Brother Blair, Ed Smith, Andy Walker, W.B. Richter, Bill Andrews, Kenneth Maynard, Van Ingram, Kenneth Harris, Lloyd Baxter Sr., Harry Edwards and Johnny Tomlin.  Those presently serving are: Clyde Farmer, Steve Bowman and Billy Wright.  Serving under the elders at this time as deacons are: Phil Bennett, Randall Chesnut, Jay Farmer, Jon Farmer and Dale Walton.  Cheryl Primm has served as this congregation’s first and only church secretary since March, 1990.

The following are current works supported by the Spring Hill Church of Christ.   Missionary work:  Steve Waller in Indonesia, Samson Octobre in the Philippines, Eastern European Mission Fund, Korea Ministry, Spanish Literature Ministry in Cuba, and Cherokee Church of Christ.   TV gospel preachers: James Watkins “Preaching the Gospel” and Mack Lyons “In Search of the Lord’s Way.”  Preaching Students supported include:  Lajohn McDonald, Matt Brown, and Coy Lydell Hathcock.  Other works supported are: Agape, Tennessee Children’s Home and Disaster Relief Fund.   

In addition to our regular weekly services, the Ladies’ Bible Class meets each Tuesday at 10 a.m.

April 6, 2004