When the first congregation gathered for Sunday worship in the Piney Fork area, the War of 1812 hadn’t started and the Titanic was still 100 years from taking float on its doomed maiden voyage. This Sunday, the Presbyterian church born from that first meeting of churchgoers when the United States was still in its infancy will celebrate its bicentennial.
The story of Piney Fork Cumberland Presbyterian Church begins in May 1810, when John Travis and 13 others from the vicinity of Piney Fork decided to organize a church connected with the new Cumberland Presbyterian denomination. Just two years later, the organization of the Piney Fork church was completed, beginning a mission to spread the Word of God that is still going strong 200 years later.
The church, by far, is the oldest in the county. In fact, when it was formed, Crittenden County was still 30 years away from being carved out of eastern Livingston County. Through the generations, it has evolved from occasional preaching at the home of a parishioner to regular worship each week at the congregation’s home since 1957.
“In those (first) days, preachers were hard to find and pay for,” said Sarah Ford, a fifth-generation member of the church who first joined the congregation at the age of 12.
Ford has been one of the key organizers of Sunday’s bicentennial celebration, compiling an updated history of the church and helping to plan the commemoration. The church will open its historical presentation to the public beginning at 1:30 p.m.
“This has given us all time to reflect,” said Ford, who recalls the church as being the center of the Piney Fork area as she was growing up there. “We want the community to come out and celebrate with us.”
The tiny church has a rich history. Though Hurricane Church near Tolu hosts the last regular traditional camp meetings in the county, the Piney Fork church was the first to organize such revivals. The meetings were held on the current grounds of the church from its inception in 1812 until 1955. In fact, the church’s camp meeting shed is famously depicted in a drawing by the late Carrsville artist Roger Morris. The image adorns the front of the church’s current history book.
Bro. Daniel Hopkins has been pastor of Piney Fork Cumberland Presbyterian Church since 2010. Ford says Hopkins, born in 1981, has brought a new perspective to the congregation that was led by Rev. Cortis Hill for 40 years until he died in 2008. Hopkins is the 31st leader of the congregation since Finis Ewing first took the pulpit in 1812.
