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WHAT TO EXPECT
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Newport church of Christ A Brief History of Our Congregation |
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The church of Christ that meets in Newport assembled itself for the first time in 1920 when Bob and Ben Jones and their wives began meeting together as the local congregation of saints. Having lived in Florida for several years, they had come in contact with the gospel (Romans 1:16), obeyed it (Romans 6:18), and were added to the Lord's church (Acts 2:48). After returning to the Newport area, they continued to meet as the body of Christ in this community. The first preacher to serve this congregation was W. A. Cameron. We grew, and in 1923 we purchased the old Venoila School Building on the Nine Foot Road (for $40.00), where brethren continued to assemble regularly for many years. In 1954, we moved into our present meeting house on Lakeview Drive. For a great number of years, ours was the only congregation in eastern North Carolina that was faithful to God's word. As the population of this area began to grow, brethren planted (or helped plant) neighboring congregations in Morehead City, New Bern, Swansboro, Jacksonville, and Havelock. Of these congregations, two (Jacksonville and Havelock) have digressed into institutionalism, practicing the sponsoring church arrangement in evangelism and benevolence. Over the years, this congregation has had many outstanding gospel preachers fill our pulpit, including: C. Ledford, Elvis Bogarth, John Wright, I. D. Gainey, Harry Pickup Sr., Charles Crider, Andy de Clerk, Wiley Adams, Marion Alderidge, Tom Roberts, Jeff Wasson, Leslie Sloan, Paul Nagy, Bill Collett, Dennis Hamlin, Jack Gibbert, Marvin Kelly, Clark Dugger, Thornton Pringle, Hal Snyder, Eric Matthews, Craig Hearne, Eric Dougherty, James Clark, and Jeff Dorton. James Clark is preaching for us again. There was an article in Truth Magazine June 2009 issue by Connie Adams "My First Gospel Meeting," which was with the congregation in Newport in June 1950--this is also the first chapter in Connie's new autobiography Echoes from the Nine Foot Road (which is available from the Truth Magazine Bookstore). Another history of the Newport church of Christ appears on pages 108-109 in Newport: The Town With Old Fashioned Courtesy by Jack Dudley (Morehead City, NC: Coastal Heritage Series, 2010). This page was created by Hal Snyder on July 15, 1999, and it is based on the recollections of Charles Thomas Pringle and Raymond Simmons, as gathered by the author during the late 80s an and early 90s.
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