CENTENNIAL MINUTES
MINISTERS APPOINTED TO DILLON CHAPEL
April 2, 1989
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CENTENNIAL MINUTES
BUYING A DILLON CHAPEL CHURCH PEW
April 9, 1989
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One of the means of
providing the nice oak church pews which are still in use today was the
practice of "buying" a church pew. For a $100.00 donation, a member or
person in the community would be entitled to place his name, or the name
of one he wished to memorialize, on a brass plate at the end of "his" pew.
The following were paid for by the people in the community at the time the
brick church was built.
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CENTENNIAL MINUTES
REFLECTIONS BY BOB TALBERT
April 16, 1989
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Twelve years ago (1977), I came to Dillon Chapel
looking for a church. After visiting several other churches, I knew Dillon
Chapel was where I wanted to be. The people opened their arms and hearts
and welcomed me. I felt this was a church were I could worship God and
share my concerns with people who really care. |
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CENTENNIAL MINUTES
THE LITTLE WHITE CHURCH AT THE CROSSROADS
April 23, 1989
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Dillon
Chapel existed as a church since the late 1850's meeting in members barns,
homes, or in the summer under a large beech tree. A few people recall a
log structure which existed before the white church. In a taped interview,
Eula Jeffrey recalled attending services in the log building when she was
a small child. It stood in back of the present church between what it now
the drive-way and the scout building. Jack Jeffrey recalls his Grandmother
Dillon also telling of an old log church. Sometime in the late 1800's, the local congregation at Davis Creek felt the need for a new church building in which to worship God. They were encouraged by the local pastor, Rev. Marlin Blankenship and the traveling pastor, Rev. Adam Given. The location was central to the whole community, on the Reece Dillon farm which was intersected by the Old Hamlin Pike between Wayne and Logan (now 16th Street Road). Two local carpenters active in the church donated their labor: Hugh Melrose and Claude Dillon. As in many heavily timbered areas, the building of a church was a simple and cheap matter. The land and the timber for the frame building was donated. It was constructed on four sandstone corner-stones. The heating system was a pot-bellied stove, located to the left of the door. The lighting was originally Kerosene and the plumbing was outdoors. The floor plan consisted of one large room which served as a sanctuary and for Sunday School. A bell to call the faithful to worship hung in its tower and a white picket fence surrounded it. (Were told that Stacy Dillon, who had been rabbit hunting on the hill behind the church once climbed the fence with a shotgun, which discharged. From the wounds he received, he developed double pneumonia and died. This building met the needs of the people until 1947 when plans for a new church began under the direction of Rev. Earl Debar. When the basement was completed, services were moved there. For a time the old church was used for socials and other events. Finally, during Doran Houston's ministry, the building was sold for $500 to Alfred Browning, who tore it down and rebuilt it on his farm near Martha. It was obtained from Mr. Browning by his son Paul, who later sold it to the present owner Keith Adkins. It looks much the same as the original church, except it now sports blue vinyl siding and was expanded to a story and a half. It would be gratifying for the original builders to know that their work survived almost 60 years as a church and another 40 years as a comfortable home! |
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CENTENNIAL MINUTES
MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS
April 30, 1989 - Rev. Doran Houston
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The Lord works to change the hearts of those who sincerely wish to serve
Him. One such example was that of Old Mr. Fry who came here from Logan County, and his neighbor, Hack Angle, who owned the present Shoenlein Hollow. They were in a squabble over a little strip of land which divided their farms. They were almost to the point of a shooting feud when a tent meeting was set up at the bottom of the hill near their farms. One night when the invitation was given, they both came to the mourners's bench, one sitting at one end, one at the other. They kneeled there only a short period of time, when they both jumped up, put their arms around each other, and asked for forgiveness! Incidentally, they dropped their respective suits that were pending in court. Presumably, that little strip of land just didn't mean as much anymore. They both went on to serve Dillon Chapel for many years. One day Hack Angle approached the preacher and said, "Preacher, I've been meaner than the Devil and I would like to do something for the Lord, but I don't have many talents. What can I do?" Rev. Houston thought for a moment and said, "I don't want you to take this as an insult, but we have a very great need for a custodian." "That's it," he replied. "That's my job!" And so it was for the rest of Rev. Houston's stay at Dillon Chapel and beyond. Each month when he got his check, he would sign it and put it in the offering plate. Old Mr. Fry gave the most surprising testimony Rev. Houston ever heard. He was attending prayer meeting and got up to testify. He got up, flicked his hair (as he was in the habit of doing) and began: "I love everybody and I think everybody loves me. Then he paused. "Wait a minute. There was a fellow back in Logan County who was so mean and onery that I shot him through and through with a copper-jacket bullet -- and I ain't sorry of it." Mrs. Houston was so shocked that she thought there was something wrong with her hearing or her mind. After a couple day's struggle, she went to Doran: "I didn't hear that man say he shot someone, did I Doran?" "Oh yes you did," he replied. "That's exactly what he said." The testimony notwithstanding, Mr. Fry, who was Wealtha Nash's father, served well and faithfully for many years. "The Lord works in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform." |
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