In 1890, the Newellton Union
Church was formed to “mold the lives of the people of Newellton into Christian
Character.” When Presbyterian ministers J.S. Hillhouse and F.L. McCue
visited the town in 1889, they held services in private homes and urged
the citizens to form a church. On June 10, 1890, the Tensas First
Presbyterian Church was organized.
The first church was built upon
land donated by Mr. Isadore Newman of New Orleans. Protestant, Catholic,
and Jewish congregations used the facility. Each had a box of its
denominations religious symbols that would be taken out and used for their
respective services.
Sometime between 1913 and 1920,
the church was disposed of. It is now located on Hwy. 608 northeast
of Newellton where the road turns east along the levee. By 1920,
they were using the current church building. By that time, it seems
that Methodists were also using the church for services. But over
the years, the separate congregations remained small and regular preachers
weren’t assigned to Newellton.
On November 11,1928, they met
together to organize the denominations (Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian,
Christian Church) into a single Union church and hire a full-time pastor.
In March 1929, Rev. L.L. Lemon from the Christian Church (Disciples of
Christ) started his service. He was followed by a Methodist pastor,
Rev. Otis Spinks, in 1930. The Baptists left the Union church to
form their own church in 1935.
The church continued to grow
and needed larger facilities by the mid 1930s. The current sanctuary
was built in 1937. Additional property was purchased in 1950, bringing
the church’s total to 2.3 acres of land. After adding a new steeple
in 1966, an education building was constructed and dedicated in 1967.
Bishop Aubrey Walton led the service. A parsonage was acquired in
1974.
As it looked for a new pastor
in 1989, the church found out that they had never officially aligned themselves
with either the United Methodist or Presbyterian Church. An agreement
was made and signed by Bishop Oden and the church. The members do
not belong specifically to the United Methodist or Presbyterian Churches,
but are members of the Newellton Union Church. The total membership
number is divided in two and half are counted as United Methodist and half
as Presbyterians (for statistical purposes). United Methodist and
Presbyterian ministers alternate approximately every eight years.
The first minister under this agreement was United Methodist pastor Kenneth
Graham in 1989.
Source: Newellton 100th Anniversary booklet |
