USA > North Carolina > Union County > Monroe > History of New Hope Methodist Protestant Church : Union County, Buford Township, Monroe, North Carolina, from the year 1889 to 1936 > Part 5
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past. Earl A. Cook was Chairman of the Club, and had led it through a successful year. This had kept the spiritual condition of the church high. Therefore, a revival was not hard to start. There were fifty-six conversions, and a large number united with the church. Following are a few interesting facts as giv- en in a report by the pastor, which appeared in the Methodist Protestant Herald of September 17th, 1925. He said in part :
"We have just closed two weeks of revival services on our work. On the fourth Sunday the pastor began a series of services at New Hope, where a good congregation greeted him twice on Sunday. Brother C. E. Phillips came on Mon- and stayed until the close of the services the following Fri- day. Our congregations were good despite the fact that it was a busy season with many of our people. The church was crowded at night and many were compelled to sit in their automobiles or stand near the windows in order to hear the messages of Brother Phillips. We had fifty-six people to come forward renewing their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and confessing Him. It was a great meeting and the church was greatly revived. Fathers and mothers were won for the Master and many young people were brought into the service of Christ. The Phillips Evangelistic Club which was organized by Brother Phillips last year, played a great part in the success of our meeting. These good folks have been meeting twice each week and holding prayer services. On Sunday nights they meet at the church and each Wed- nesday night they meet in some home of the community and conduct their services themselves. They have revivals in these mid-week meetings. Sinners have asked for prayer in a number of them. People, if more communities would do as the New Hope people are doing we would have better re- vivals and it would not take half the time we devote to re- vival meetings to get the church to working. When the time
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comes for a revival to begin and the preacher has to convert the church before the revival can begin. Our people at New Hope invited Brother Phillips back for a ten day meeting next year to be held under an arbor that we intend to build near the church. Already subscriptions to the amount of nearly $200.00 have been received and a good amount of the material had been promised by members of the church. We expect to build an arbor that will seat thousands of peo- ple and hope to have a great time at New Hope beginning the third Sunday in July 1926 .* * To show our appreciation of Brother Phillips' earnest efforts among us we gave him a purse of $50.20 at the close of the meeting."
"Our meeting began at Rose Hill (Pageland) the fifth Sunday morning. Brother Quick, former pastor, preach- ed at the eleven o'clock hour and the pastor preached in the evening. Brother Phillips came Monday and preached to a good congregation at night. *
* Our services were not so well attended in the mornings but the church would not ac- commodate the people at the evening services. * * Sister Phillips and little Evan Phillips came and were with us in our meeting here. We were delighted to have them with us.
* During our meeting here seventeen people made confes- sion and were reconsecrated to the service of Christ. The church was greatly revived and much good was accomplish- ed in the few days Rev. Phillips could be with us. * * We gave them a purse of $71.25 for their services here."
As you will notice in the above report Rev. Phil- lips assisted Pastor Crutchfield in his revival at the Pageland Church also.
Rev. Phillips wove himself into the affections of the people of the entire charge, and just at this time very little attention was given to the pastor.
Soon the close of the Conference year was at hand. The pastor had received only three hundred dollars of
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the six hundred he was promised. Earl A. Cook was elected delegate and was instructed by the Fourth Quarterly Conference to ask for Rev. C. E. Phillips as pastor. A previous conference had been held with Rev. Phillips, and he promised to serve as pastor if New Hope would raise four hundred dollars for him that he may settle some accounts before he moved to the work. This amount was raised by New Hope Church, and a certified check for the amount was car- ried to the Conference by Earl A. Cook, the delegate, which was to be given to Rev. Phillips if he was as- signed to the Pageland Charge, yet Pastor Crutch- field, according to last reports, only received $360.00 of his salary. This was not treating the young pastor right, although it is history.
Rev. Phillips encouraged the people to build a large arbor on the New Hope church grounds. Dur- ing his evangelistic work there in 1925 the plans were made, and several hundred dollars raised. A com- mittee was appointed to complete the plans and start the work early in 1926. J. P. Aycoth was chairman of this committee.
REV. C. E. PHILLIPS- 1926-1929
A new pastor was assigned to the Pageland Charge for the Conference year 1926, Rev. C. E. Phillips. As soon as he was assigned pastor the delegate gave to him the four hundred dollar check from New Hope Church.
Rev. Phillips came to the Pageland Charge from Lincolnton, N. C. Immediately after conference New Hope took the responsibility to move the pastor. A parsonage was rented in Monroe, N. C. Robert Cook and Earl A. Cook moved the new pastor.
These were red letter days for New Hope, as well as for the entire charge.
The First Quarterly Conference was held at Rose Hill church on December 19th, 1925. Earl A. Cook was elected as a new member of the advisory commit- tee. The following were elected as stewards for New Hope church: Earl A. Cook, Lee Aycoth, J. C. Cook, T. B. Cook and G. R. Montgomery.
Pastor's salary was fixed at $1850.00. Seven hun- dred and fifty dollars of that amount was for New Hope and seventy dollars on conference claims. The other two churches were assessed in proportion. This was an unusually heavy budget, but each church be- lieved in themselves and it was done.
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THE NEW HOPE ARBOR ERECTED 1926.
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Early in the conference year Pastor Phillips con- ducted a ten-day revival in the Union County Court House in Monroe, N. C., with a very good interest and fair attendance.
On April 16th, 1926, the beloved former pastor, J. W. Quick, passed to his reward. This greatly shock- ed the people of all the churches, despite the fact that his death had been expected for some time. The fun- eral was conducted by Rev. Phillips and he was laid to rest in the Pageland cemetery.
Early in the spring the building and finance com- mittee of the New Hope Arbor got busy. Almost ev- eryone was interested and the work soon began and a large arbor was built at a cost of approximately one thousand dollars besides much of the lumber material which was donated. It was finished in time for the revival to begin on the fourth Sunday in July. This was a long expected revival and was widely advertis- ed. People attended from all parts of the state.
The Second Quarterly Conference was supposed to have been held at Bethesda, while we have no rec- ord of the transactions. The Third Quarterly Con- ference was held at the Pageland Church on Septem- ber 1st, 1926. All three churches were well represented, and much interest was shown. There were a large number from New Hope but only two officials, Earl A. Cook and J. C. Cook. All Sunday Schools re- ported good work. New Hope reported a large at- tendance.
Lucas Roscoe, of Bethesda, asked for license to preach. He was examined by the proper committee and the request was granted.
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J. C. Cook, of New Hope, was elected delegate to the Annual Conference.
A thing of interest at New Hope was the fact that the singing was so much better. A small choir had developed into a very large one, and a good quartet was organized. G. R. Montgomery and Earl A. Cook were promoting this part of the work. Sam Aycoth was organist. Music lovers from adjoining commun- ities came to enjoy the music, many taking part in the singing. Then too, the strong evangelistic ser- mons of Pastor Phillips brought many people from all parts of the country.
Many poundings for the pastor were conducted during the year, not only the members of New Hope took a part in these poundings, but almost everyone in the community, and many in the adjoining com- munities.
The Fourth Quarterly Conference was conducted at the Pageland Church on October 27th, 1926. For some reason three of the four conferences this year were held at the Pageland Church. None had been held at New Hope this year. New Hope was well represented at this conference, but only the following officials were present: T. B. Cook, Lee Aycoth, J. C. Cook, Earl A. Cook, G. R. Montgomery and J. W. Richardson. Pastor's report was read and was very interesting. The financial report was given. Bethesda had paid pastor's salary in full, Rose Hill had paid all but a few dollars, but New Hope, after doing all they could, still owed $241.00. The officials guaran- teed the amount if the pastor would mark them paid.
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They raised the amount in a few weeks after Con- ference. This was a hard year for New Hope. Their part of the pastor's salary was more than double than of the years before. Besides they raised almost one thousand dollars to build the arbor, then many had helped Rev. and Mrs. Quick in the early part of the year. In spite of all this, with a few extra weeks after Conference, New Hope came out over the top.
The pastor's salary was fixed at $1650.00, and the churches were to pay one-half of the pastor's house rent. J. C. Cook was delegate to the Annual Conference, and was instructed to ask for the return of Pastor Phillips.
In passing we notice a few incidents of which a record was kept. I will mention them briefly :
"Wednesday evening, October 20th, 1926, Rev. Phillips preached at the prayer meeting hour."
"Tuesday evening, October 26th, 1926, prayer meeting was held at the church and was conducted by Parley Cook, read- ing for a lesson Romans 12. Stewards meeting was held af- ter the prayer meeting hour."
"Sunday evening October 31st, 1926, the pastor preached at the prayer meeting hour."
"Wednesday evening, November 3rd, 1926, the pastor preached at the prayer meeting hour. There were about six- ty present. He also preached the next Sunday evening, No- vember 7th, at the Prayer meeting hour."
"Wednesday evening, November 10th, 1926, prayer meet- ing was not held because of preaching service in the late afternoon."
"Wednesday evening, November 17th, 1926, prayer meet-
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ing was held at the church, and was conducted by Mrs. Fay Aycoth. About forty were present."
"There were no services on Sunday evening, November 21st, 1926, because of bad weather, and on the Wednesday evening following there was no prayer meeting because of trouble in the community." (It is not known what the trouble was.)
"Sunday evening November 28th, 1926, prayer meeting was held at the home of G. R. Montgomery, and was conducted by Mrs. Stafford Belk. Lesson read was the 37th Psalm. About forty were present."
"Wednesday evening, December 1st, 1926, prayer meeting was held at the home of Rev. Earl A. Cook, and was con- ducted by Mrs. Molly Helms, by reading the 15th chapter of John. About thirty-five were present."
1927-At the Annual Conference the Boundary Committee was requested to take Bethesda off the Pageland Charge, which they did, and made a station of Bethesda, and was served by the Rockingham pas- tor. This left only two church on the Pageland Charge, New Hope and Rose Hill.
Pastor Phillips returned to the work for the sec- ond year. He moved from the East side of Monroe to the West side, in a few hundred yards of the Mon- roe school.
Now that Bethesda was taken off the Charge the pastor asked to engage in other work that he may supplement his salary. The permission was granted by both the conference and the churches. He secur- ed an insurance position at which he was very suc- cessful. These two positions kept the pastor very busy, although he did both well for a while.
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At this time Earl A. Cook was deeply interested in his studies, which were required by the Conference Faculty. Rev. Phillips became very interested in the young preacher who, under his many handicaps, was struggling to meet the requirements of the conference. Despite the duties of both positions of the pastor, he agreed to give the young preacher two nights out of each week for instructions and study. This work was kept up regularly for almost two years, during which time every viewpoint of the Bible and Methodist Doc- trine was drilled into the understanding of the young preacher. The Bible was the main subject studied in connection with the subjects required in the courses of study. This was very helpful to Rev .. Cook, as it helped him pass his exaxminations very satisfactory to the Conference.
The Second Quarterly Conference was held at New Hope on May 18th, 1927. The regular business of the Conference was transacter. Henry Mirze, of Pageland, S. C., and J. W. Richardson were named as candidates for delegate to the Annual Conference.
Death visited New Hope community on May 24th, 1927, and took one of the most dependable and effi- cient members of the church, J. P. Aycoth. Mr. Ay- coth had taken an important part in the development of New Hope Church and the community. The church felt this loss very keenly.
On August 10th, 1927, the Third Quarterly Con- ference was held at the Pageland Church. J. W. Rich- ardson and Earl A. Cook represented New Hope Church. Mr. Richardson made the Sunday School re-
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port, which was good, with average attendance about ninety. Earl A. Cook, Chairman of the board of stewards of New Hope, reported about $375.00 paid on pastor's salary. Rose Hill reported almost seven hundred dollars paid on pastor's salary. This showed up New Hope, but they were always there in the end. The license of Rev. Earl A. Cook was renewed for another year. J. H. Mirze was elected as delegate to the Annual Conference.
The close of this conference year was a very busy one for New Hope. Almost half of the pastor's sal- ary was to be raised. Stewards got busy, and when the year closed New Hope had paid all claims and presented to their pastor a nice overcoat and an un- usual pounding of groceries.
The Fourth Quarterly Conference was held at Rose Hill, of Pageland, S. C., on October 27th, 1927. Pastor's report was made. All salary paid by both churches, besides the overcoat presented by New Hope, the people of the Pageland Church presented to him a nice suit of clothes, also a large amount of groceries.
Rev. Earl A. Cook made a report of his local work, as a local preacher, which showed progressiveness in his work and studies.
The delegate, J. H. Marze, was instructed to ask for the return of Rev. Phillips as pastor.
Pastor's salary was again set at $1650.00 and one- half the pastor's house rent.
1928-Rev Phillips returned to the Pageland Charge to start his third year, which was a very hard
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one for him. The "new" was wearing off, and the du- ties of his insurance work seemed to increase, as well as his pastoral duties. Many times Rev. Phillips be- came worried and perplexed, but even his close friends would hardly notice it. Only that smile and pleasant approach presented itself, not even his companion, who was so devoted to him and his work, knew noth- ing of many of his problems.
For unknown reasons there was only one Quarterly Conference report available of this year. A few local church actions found by the author which will be of interest.
Some time during the pastorate of Rev. Phillips Lee Cook and family, D. C. Montgomery, Rayburn Moser and others joined New Hope Church. They came from Sandy Ridge Baptist Church.
Early in the year, February 11th, 1928, another marriage of interest was that of Crowell Cook and Miss Edna McGuirt, a sister of Mrs. Floyd Cook. Mrs. Cook was a member of the Baptist church at the time of her marriage, but later united with New Hope Church and became an efficient member and teacher.
During the summer the Sunday School grew to a church full. The prayer meetings were well attend- ed and were inspiring.
Death again came and took three very faithful members. The first was Mrs. Jessie Yarbrough, wife of Mack Yarbrough, on September 8th, 1928. Mrs. Yarbrough was the elder daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John R. Belk. She had been a very faithful member of New Hope Church since childhood.
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On September 29th, 1928, Mrs. Brownie Helms Presley passed to her reward. Mrs. Presley was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Leroy Helms, and a grand- daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John R. Belk. Mrs. Pres- ley was very young, just reaching the bloom of life, and her passing was a great shock to her friends and loved ones.
On October 22nd, 1928, T. P. Ross left this world to be with God. Mr. Ross had been a faithful member of New Hope Church for twenty-five years. He had not lived in the community since 1917 or 1918, but he was always interested in New Hope Church and the promotion of its programs. He lived in Monroe at the time of his death. These three mem- bers sleep in New Hope cemetery.
The church felt most keenly the passing of Mr. Ross and Mr. Aycoth, who had been such faithful of- ficials in the church. Then, too, John R. Belk, one of the faithful pioneers of New Hope Church, was now getting feeble, and was hardly able to discharge his official duties, yet he always attended services when at all possible. He was released from the responsibil- ity of church trustee, an office he served as chairman since the organization of the church in 1889. He was succeeded by Robert Belk, son of W. C. Belk. W. C. Belk, known as Uncle Lum, was also feeble and un- able to carry on his official work in the church, but these old soldiers of the Cross were held in high es- teem by the entire church, and were asked for advice by their successors when they faced trying problems in their work.
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The Fourth Quarterly Conference was held at New Hope on October 29th, 1928. In the absence of the secretary, Earl A. Cook was elected as secretary pro tem.
An interesting report was made by Superintendent J. W. Richardson of New Hope Sunday School, which at that time had the best attendance and more inter- est than it had ever had before in the nine years he had served as its leader.
The pastor reported that New Hope was yet some behind on salary. The officials assured the pastor that this amount would be raised by Annual Confer- ence. This was done.
Rev. Earl A. Cook, a local preacher, gave his re- port which showed the marks of progress in his work. He assured the Conference of his determination to go on in spite of many things that were stumbling blocks. He expected to ask the Conference of 1928 for an en- trance examination.
There was some discussion when the time came to fix the pastor's salary for the next year. Money was not so very easy to get any more, and both churches did not feel that they could pay the large salary the next year. It was suggested that New Hope and Rose Hill pay six hundred dollars each, and since Bethesda wanted back on the Pageland Charge, that they be accepted, and they pay three hundred dollars, and all churches pay one hundred dollars on pastor's house rent, which would make a total of six- teen hundred dollars. This was agreed upon and passed.
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The delegate, Earl A. Cook, was instructed to ask for the return of the same pastor.
Through the assistance of Earl A. Cook, New Hope church presented to their pastor a nice suit of clothes just before Conference.
1929-Pastor Phillips was assigned to the Page- land Charge for his fourth year, which pleased the larger part of the Charge. Bethesda Church was at- tached back to the Pageland Charge, which pleased the people of Bethesda very much. This helped the Charge, as the large salary the two churches had been paying was now too much for them to carry.
Rev. Earl A. Cook made application for entrance into the Conference in the 1928 session, which was held in Winston-Salem, N. C. He was examined by the proper committee and was admitted to the Con- ference Classes, for three more years of study, this time under the Conference Faculty.
Some time during the year 1918, Pastor Phillips moved out of the city of Monroe to avoid expensive house rent, of which he was entirely justifiable. He moved to the small station known as Bakers, N. C., five miles from Monroe on the Charlotte and Monroe highway.
G. R. Montgomery, the choir leader, had some time before moved out of the community to Monroe, and Joe Ross was elected as his successor. His wife, Mrs. Cora Ross, was elected organist. Mr. Ross was well advanced in music. He took a great interest in this part of the work which soon advanced to an out- standing feature of the church. The choir very soon
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began to receive invitations to sing in neighboring churches, which they often accepted.
Soon after Christmas Pastor Phillips became ill and remained so for several weeks. He partly re- covered and filled a few appointments. A few weeks later he became ill again. The doctor stated that he was suffering from a nervous break-down. He lin- gered several weeks without improving, then he de- cided to go, with his family, to his father's home in Bessemer City, N. C. He remained there for weeks, and while he was there, of course, the Pageland Charge was without a pastor. While Pastor Phillips was at his father's there was a misunderstanding be- tween him and the Methodist Protestant pastor there, Rev. M. C. Henderson. The resentment between them brought the president of the conference, S. W. Taylor, to councel with them. Before the president came to Bessemer City, rumors came to him that Rev. Phillips had become involved in some insurance trouble in Monroe, N. C. This had already been in- vestigated by President Taylor. It is not known what was found by him, but on May 21st, 1929, Pres- ident Taylor called a conference of the Pageland Charge, which was held at New Hope Church. The people were informed by President Taylor that Rev. Phillips was no longer pastor of the charge, his res- ignation having been accepted, and he was released of any duties as pastor. This was a great surprise to the entire charge, although many were growing weary, and wanted a pastor, while others did not care. Earl A. Cook had served New Hope some in the absence
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of the pastor. Without any discussion, President Taylor offered Rev. T. Glenn Madison, who would be home from Westminster Theological Seminary in a few days, as pastor for the remainder of the confer- ence year. This offer was accepted by the charge, and in a few weeks Rev. Madison was in his new field.
Rev. Phillips was now an ex-pastor. He remained at his father's home in Bessemer City, N. C., the re- mainder of the year.
On January 17th, 1929, death claimed another member of New Hope Church, Mrs. Eliza Starnes, the wife of John Starnes. Mrs. Starnes was never strong, but was a faithful soul in all she was able to do, and all who knew her loved her.
Rev. T. Glenn Madison-Rev. Madison was a clean cut young man, and on the merits of his appear- ance the whole charge received him with pleasure. It was a hard task for the young preacher to take up the work as it was. The work had been without the service of a pastor for several months, many were down-hearted and disappointed over the loss of Rev. Phillips. Rev. Madison realized the conditions, and knew exactly how to master the situation.
Rev. Madison called a Quarterly Conference as soon as possible after he came to the work. There it was decided the amount to be paid the pastor. It is not known what that amount was but supposing it to be about five hundred dollars. There is no record showing the amount Pastor Madison or Pastor Phill-
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ips received that year. The report of the Annual Conference shows that eleven hundred dollars was paid to both pastors.
Since Pastor Madison had to return to school at Westminster, Maryland, before the close of the con- ference year, the last Quarterly Conference was held early, on August 30th, 1929. H. B. Sowell, of Page- land, S. C., was elected delegate to the Annual Con- ference. He was left uninstructed.
Rev. Madison returned to school on September 24, therefore, the charge was without a pastor the re- mainder of the conference year.
REV. T. E. MARTIN-1930
This year was another turning point in the history of New Hope Church. It seemed that the church could only rise to a certain height, then something would happen which would keep it from going higher.
This is a chapter I would rather not write, and wist it was not true, but since something must be said I shall say it briefly. It is hoped that the recording of these brief facts that the generations to come may profit by them. Those in this generation who had a part in these facts remember many things not record- ed here. They are not recorded in hopes that they may be forgotten.
After the session of the 1929 Conference which was held in Calvary Church, Greensboro, N. C., Rev. C. E. Phillips was no longer a minister in the Meth- odist Protestant Church. He later joined the Bap- tist Church, and Rev. Madison was assigned to the First Church, Thomasville, N. C.
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