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Motivated by a desire to
establish an independent New Testament Church in Plymouth, a
group a fifty-four people met in the home of Charlie and Myrtle
Williams on Wilson Street for their first worship service. Mr.
Cary Dannelly preached the sermon and began his tenure as
minister of Plymouth Church of Christ. Due to the size of that
first gathering, the American Legion hall over the City Market
on Water Street was secured as a meeting place for the next
three Sundays. Worship services were later moved to the local
Union Hall to accommodate growth. On June 6, 1954, a
special service was held in which thirty-two people affixed
their signatures to this "COVENANT:"
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We desire to unite in a
congregation because we believe in the wisdom of
associated effort in things spiritual as well as in
things temporal; because we earnestly desire to grow in
grace and in knowledge of the Word of God and because we
believe that by combining our means and talents we may
become more influential witnesses for Christ in this
community, securing thereby more consideration of our
cause as well as a deeper Christian life for ourselves.
We have already covenanted with God in Christ. In so
doing, we realize that we have taken God the Father to
be our God, Jesus Christ to be our Savior, the Holy
Spirit to be our cherished guest and sanctifier, the
Word of God to be our only rule of faith and practice,
the salvation of all men to be an object of perpetual
concern, and the people to God to be in an especial
sense our people. We will be independent of any
religious organizations and will not take dictation from
any religious groups. In order to fulfill most
effectively this solemn covenant, we do now on this the
sixth day of June, in the year of our Lord 1954, unite
to form a Church of Christ in Plymouth, North Carolina,
and we do hereby covenant to do all in our power to
promote the growth, spirituality and general prosperity
of this congregation. To this end we pledge ourselves by
the aid of God's Word and Spirit to lead lives of
personal righteousness, to give freely as the Lord
blesses our labors for the maintenance of His cause, to
attend faithfully upon the services of the church, and
to do good to all men, especially to those who are of
the household of faith. In testimony of our
deliberateness and sincerity, we hereunto affix our
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Those who signed the covenant and thereby became
charter members of Plymouth Church of Christ were: Clifford Ange,
Nona Ange, Onward Ange, Gerald Beasley, Pat Beasley, Joe G.
Beasley, Alice Beasley, Rudolph Beasley, Vernell Beasley, Elmer
Browning, Norma Chesson, Sam Garrett, Ruth Garrett, Eddie
Hardison, Henry Hardison, Lee Montford Hardison, Dossie Hopkins,
Flossie Nooney, Joe Nooney, Mary Nooney, Nita Sawyer, Lewis
Styons, Mary Styons, Marion Styons, Pauline Styons, Philip
Styons, Raymond Styons, Linwood Swain, Jay Hollis White,
Kathleen White, Charlie Williams, and Myrtle Williams.
Realizing a need to secure a meeting place of their
own, property was purchased from Earnest Arps for the sum of
$3,500, and the first permanent building was erected. Under the
leadership of contractor Bob Tetterton, the 40'x80' facility was
completed and put to use on July 26, 1956. Additional growth in
buildings and property came over the years. The new parsonage
was first occupied in December of 1960. Dedication services of a
400 seat sanctuary were held on February 14, 1965. Presently,
the church owns six acres of land, two parsonages, two storage
buildings and the church building. In April of 2002,
construction began on a Family Life Center, with additional
educational and office space. This unit should be completed by
January, 2003.
Over the years, church membership rose to 415. Providing
leadership in this spiritual growth were some very capable
ministers. Past ministers and their years of service include:
Cary Dannelly - 1954-57; Bill Gardner - 1957-60, Ben James
- 1960-62,; Ted Davenport -1962 -64; John Thomas -1964-68;
Gene McGee - 1968-70; Ben James - 1970-79; Bob Moulden -
1979-Present. As God blessed the ministries of these men, many
people came to Christ.
Also providing valuable service through the years have
been several part-time Associate Ministers coming from Roanoke
Bible College. Included in their number are: Bill McCracken,
Larry Owen, Tim Sparks, Jeff Marks, Gene Cordon, Bill Abbott,
George Powell, Frankie Dewald, Paul Sciotto, Jim Joyner, Glenn
Brickhouse, Brad Griffin, and Chris Cuthbertson, Michael Lease,
Matt Wagner and Graham Phillips and Ottis Cox.
The steady growth in property, facilities and membership
has been the result of God working through a congregation of
dedicated people. Only eternity will adequately weigh the worth
of work done by dedicated elders, deacons, teachers, musicians,
singers, evangelists, youth workers, Ladies Aid members and
other volunteers. Time, treasure, talent and energy have been
invested by many people. Because of their generous and
sacrificial spirit, a strong congregation exists today. For this
we offer our praise to God and our thanks to His servants.
As we move into a new millennium, we do so knowing that
we must be faithful to our calling and committed to our cause.
Let us move forward, seeking to lift up Christ. He, then, will
draw men unto Himself and our congregation will continue to bear
a strong witness for Him. The desires of those faithful people
who launched this church forty-five years ago still burn deeply
in our hearts. By God's grace we will continue to win lost souls
to Christ and disciple them to become devoted followers of Him.
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