Randolph County, Indiana Family History(Contributed) – The pioneers of this community, seeing the need for a church, organized on the 22nd day of July, 1844, a branch of the Church of Christ under the name of Pleasant Hill, in Jackson Township, Randolph County, Ind. That they take the Holy Scriptures for the source of their council, the only rule of their faith and practice to live and die by and by which they agreed to live together in church order with each other holding fellowship for all Christians, were the principles upon which the church was based.
Jackson Township
Churches
Pleasant Hill Church of Christ
The Times-Gazette
Union City, Indiana-Ohio
Thursday, July 13, 1944
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History of Pleasant Hill Christian Church
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It was organized under rather primitive conditions. At first the people would meet at their homes for worship until a building could be erected. Men, women and children rode horses through the woods to attend these services. The names of Moody, Constable, Peden, Millhouse, Lindley, Berkheimer, Devor, Hoover, Lambert, Buff, Gettinger, McIntosh, Sutton, Mains, Brumett, Cline, Denny, Woten, Bird, Pratt, Smith, Grice, Dick, Stooksbury, Fuller and Henchy appear often on the record of the early members of the church.
These people were not only loyal to their church and to God, but they demanded that their fellowmen be the same. The first building was a frame house that stood on the west side of the road in what is now the old cemetery. This house was used not only as a place of worship, but also as a place where an attempt was made to admisister justice. It is recorded many times that some member was reprimanded for unseemly conduct and dismissed from the church for not coming forward and making a confession when asked to do so.
In 1876 a new building was completed on the site of the present building. The ground was donated by William Stooksbury. The new church was dedicated on the 8th day of July of the same year by Rev. A. Long, assisted by Rev. Daniel Spade and Rev. Henry Cole. Henry Berkheimer and Adam Burr were the deacons, and S. Woten was the clerk. It was necessary to borrow a portion of the money to complete the building, and William F. Gettinger, Ben Gettinger, Hugh Woten, Samuel Woten, Isaac Berkheimer, Adam Burr and Robert Constable agreed to stand good for the payment of this debt.
At a business meeting held June 10, 1876, the building committee was given a vote of thanks and dismissed, and the S. and U. Turnpike Co. was given a vote of thanks for exempting from toll all material hauled over the road for the church
In 1899 it became necessary to enlarge the building, and an addition was completed and dedicated in that year. Several interior improvements have been made since. It may be of interest to know that it has been 49 years since Rev J. A. Watson first came to Pleasant Hill as its pastor.
The church is now enjoying a good and profitable service in both church and Sunday school, with Rev. J. Robert Coovert as pastor and Arlo Marsh as superintendent. The Rev. Zelma Mills will be our pastor during the next conference year. Contributed by Billy J. Baker
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