First Presbyterian Church
Celebrates 150 Years

  Former Minister Jack Bennett To Deliver Sermon

BY SUSAN T. HERRING,  Editor, The Guardian-Journal

 

The Presbyterian Church in Homer will be 150 years old on Sunday, November 4, 2001. Several former ministers will participate in the morning worship service and afternoon history program. Rev. Jack Bennett, who served as minister from 1958 to 1964, will deliver the message entitled "Past to Prologue" during the morning worship service. Other ministers who will participate are Rev. Rodney Sunday, Rev. William D. O'Neal, Rev. Walter C. Easton, and Rev. John D. McClelland. Former member and Presbyterian minister Rev. Patricia Gladney Holland will take part in the afternoon history program.

It was November 4, 1851, when the first entry was made in the minute book of the Session of the Presbyterian Church of Homer. Rev. J. Franklin Ford, known as "Father of Red River Presbytery" was Stated Supply in Shreveport and served as evangelist for the outlying territory,  recorded a request had been made to organize a Presbyterian Church, according to a previous notice after a Divine Service in the Baptist Church. The request was submitted by A. J. Reynolds of Mt. Newman Church in Georgia; Margaret Reynolds, Martha Davidson, and Jane C. Smith of (L)egrange Church in Georgia; Dinsmore Neely of Centinelle Church in Alabama; and Mary C. Allen of Cumberland Presbyterian Church of Homer. Reynolds and Neely were elected as Ruling Elders.

The next entry was placed in the book on September 11, 1853 when the Session met in the Methodist Church.to accept Joseph Davidson and his wife, Mary, into the church on a certificate from the Dagrange Church in Georgia. Rev. Davidson was named full time pastor in 1871 and remained until his death in 1881. During those years, a white frame church with green shutters, a belfry, and steeple was erected amidst massive oak trees. The church bell was salvaged from a sunken steamboat on the Mississippi River. That bell is now on display at the Ford Museum.

After Davidson's death, the church was without a resident minister for 28 years. It was during those years, Mary Gladney Hays was born. Today, Mary is the oldest living member of First Presbyterian Church in Homer. She celebrated her 97th birthday on October 10, 2001.

A few years after Mary's birth, Rev. William A. Rolle became the second resident minister. During his tenure from 1909 to 1913, a manse was built next door to the church and remained there until 1986 when it was sold and moved across from the National Guard Armory, where it stands today.

From 1913 to 1916, the minister was Rev. J. C. McQueen. McQueen and his wife had been missionaries to Africa, but had returned to the states after Mrs. McQueen was seriously injured by a herd of charging elephants. She died soon after their son, Christie, was born in Homer.

During the oil boom days, 1919 to 1922, Rev. S. P. Collins was pastor. A tabernacle was built on the south lawn and used for revival meetings. An outpost church started in the Homer oilfield at the time is now a Baptist church.

In 1923, Rev. W. J. Pearman, who once sang with the Metropolitan, became pastor. He was followed by Rev. Arthur C. Evans, who was pastor from 1924 to 1927. In 1926, the old church was torn down and a new two-story church of modified Spanish architecture was constructed. 

In 1928 and 1929, Dr. B. C. Bell and Rev. J. F. McKenzie filled the pulpit. During the Depression days that followed, the church was without a pastor and once again became a Home Mission church.

Rev. Charles G. McClure served the church from 1931-1938. He was followed by Rev. H. H. Gordon, 1938 to 1943. During this time a son, Howard H. Jr., was born. He was nicknamed "Flash" by church member, attorney Fred Jackson. Flash would later become a Presbyterian minister and return to Homer as pastor in 1987.

Dr. Lloyd O'Neal served from 1942 to 1947, Rev. Rodney Sunday from 1948 to 1950, Rev. Leonard H. Sweeney from 1951 to 1957, Rev. Jack K. Bennett from 1958 to 1964, Rev. Ralph Weedon from 1965 to 1967, and Rev. John R. Bradshaw from 1967 to 1972.

Rev. O'Neal helped organize Camp Alabama, Presbytery's camp near Choudrant. His son, William D.

"Bill", would also grew up to become a minister. Rev. O'Neal moved to Ruston and became Superintendent of Home Missions of Red River Presbytery, then the northern third of Louisiana.

The church was able to fulfill its financial obligation for a five-year Program of Progress Plan in just three years while Rev. Rodney Sunday was pastor. His son, Randy, was born while in Homer.

The church was air conditioned while Rev. Swinney was minister, and the church began making plans to build a Christian Education building. Swinney was chosen one of the speakers at Austin Presbyterian Seminary and lectured on "The Thrill of Presbyterian Beginnings in Louisiana."

The manse was redecorated in November 1957. During a portion of the 1950s, church services were broadcast on Homer Radio Station KVHL and Haynesville Radio Station KLUV. 

Night services followed by a time for fellowship was revived while Rev. Jack Bennett was minister. The new education building was completed and dedicated in 1959. In 1962, an annex with five classrooms and a kitchen were added.  To meet the need for care for the aged and infirmed citizens, the Presbyterian Village was built on land donated by Mr. and Mrs. Jack Crane and incorporated July 5, 1962. Boys from Evergreen School provided much of the labor under the direction of Rev. Ralyn Parkhill. Parkhill, a Presbyterian minister, recently retired as pastor at Athens Presbyterian Church. The Evergreen Presbyterian Vocational School was also organized under the auspices of the Synod of Louisiana while Bennett was pastor.

On September 28, 1965, Patricia Gladney, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James F. Gladney, became a candidate for the Presbyterian ministry. She was the first woman candidate from Red River Presbytery. In January 1968, she married Rev. George A. Holland, also a Presbyterian minister.

The Fellowship Hall, kitchen and library were remodeled while Rev. John Bradshaw was pastor. Then, the church was without a pastor for 22 months until Rev. Walter C. Easton arrived in Homer in 1973. He served for thirteen years.

During this time a new Gothic-style church was built that would seat 150 people. The first service was held in the new church on Palm Sunday, April 1, 1982. Formal dedication services were held May 2, 1982. The new one-story building featured four faceted stained glass windows, representing God as Creator, Sustainer, Son and Redeemer, and Holy Spirit. A foyer was built to connect the sanctuary to the education building.

In 1983, the first woman was elected by the congregation to serve on the Session, the church's governing body. In 2000, there are 14 women elders and 23 men elders who serve on a 3-year rotating basis.

A Fellowship Hall was added in 1985, then later a fenced courtyard. When Easton retired in 1986, he and his wife Zelda stayed in Homer. On September 14, 1997, by the grace of God and with the concurrence of the Presbytery of the Pines, Rev. Easton was elected Pastor Emeritus by the Homer congregation.

The church was without a pastor for one year, then the church called Rev. Howard "Flash" Gordon in 1987. He was replaced in 1993 by present pastor Rev. John McClelland.

Through the years, Mary Gladney Hays has seen many of these changes in the church first hand, but her connection to the  Homer church began long before her birth in 1904, when her great-grandparents, James Patrick and Margaret "Maggie" Thompson Glenn Gladney, first arrived in Claiborne Parish sometime after the Civil War.

Maggie was a small woman who always wore a long black dress, white lace cap like the French and white lace apron, even to church. J.P. and Maggie had three sons, Glenn, Evans, and Frank. Glenn and Evans became doctors--Evans in Minden and Glenn in Claiborne Parish. Neither had children. The youngest, Francis (Frank) Arthur, was a farmer. He married Julia Emma Kimbell. Frank and Emma were Mary's parents. Their other children were Ruth Glenn Gladney Featherston, James Kimbell Gladney, and Francis Aylmer Gladney.

Mary married William Taylor Hays. To them were born William Taylor, Jr. "Billy", Patricia Ruth Hays McLeod, Emma Jeanne Hays Atkins, Frances Gladney Hays Bays, and James Kimbell "Bubba" Hays.

Mary remembers the sights and sounds, and the fun, of riding in a buggy with the family to church on Sunday, then going to her grandparents for Sunday dinner--a family custom that continued through four generations, until she was in her upper 80s. She remembers being taught in Sunday School by Miss Belle Davidson and Sara Meadors Thomson. and participating in the children's choir. Her piano teacher, Mary Lee Heflin Meadors, was the church pianist and organist for many years, serving splendidly and faithfully.

As an adult, Mary taught Sunday School and Bible School in the nursery department for years. She hosted dinners for the Youth Fellowship in its "heyday" in the late 40's and 50's. She was a faithful member of the Missionary Society, which later became the Women of the Church. She served as a Pink Lady at Presbyterian Village in the early days, reading to the residents and writing letters for them.

Over the years, Mary has served the Lord, her church family, and her own family with grace and dignity, in a quiet and gentle way--a Christian lady in every way. She is dearly loved by all who have had the privilege of knowing her.

Today, Mary has ten grandchildren. Two of her nineteen great-grandchildren, Heather and Daniel Bays, represent the sixth generation of Presbyterians. They are the children of Danny and Becky Bays and the grandchildren of Frances and Larry Bays. Danny, Becky and Frances are all members of Homer Presbyterian Church.

Presbyterians are a diverse group who believe in doing things "decently and in order." In spite of their diversity or differences, they share a common belief that "all power in heaven and earth is given to Jesus Christ by Almighty God, who raised Christ from the dead and set him above all rule and authority." It is through Christ they receive salvation--the free gift of God. Once accepted, they embark on a spiritual journey where they can freely serve the Lord, as they are led by the Holy Spirit. 

Presbyterians have long been associated with predestination and the writings of John Calvin, although predestination is a word seldom mentioned in church circles. As members of the Presbyterian Church USA, their Constitution includes the Book of Order--the rules of church government, and the Book of Confessions, statements of faith written by people of faith through the ages. They include The Nicene Creed, the Apostles' Creed, Scots Confession, Larger and Shorter Catechism, the Westminster Confession of Faith, and others.

On Sunday afternoon, members of the First Presbyterian Church in Homer will take a look back at their history and a look forward at where they go from here. Betty Kirby said of the church at the turn of the last century, "Since 1851, the church's history is embedded in the hopes and visions, disappointments and frustrations of countless men and women, both clergy and laity." The words written by Sarah Thomson at the 100th anniversary of the church in 1951 still ring true today,  "The church stands on the threshold of its second century. We believe in her future as we honor and respect her past. Before her stretches a vista of growth, progress and usefulness. God grant that she may be found worthy!"

- Published in The Guardian-Journal, Homer, LA.  -  November 1, 2001