The Church In Lufkin, Texas
Lufkin is the home of the Gospel Guardian. It is also called "home" by many hundreds of Christians who compose the eight congregations (both liberal and conservative; both black and white) of the community. The earliest knowledge we have of Christians in the area goes back to about the year 1900, when Sister Dan Campbell persuaded her husband (who was not a member) to let a few faithful brethren begin "holding services" in a commercial building he owned near the railroad. (How many strong congregations in our nation today owe their beginning to some godly Sister who would not be daunted nor dismayed when she found herself living in a town where there was no church!)
One of the earliest preachers in the Lufkin neighborhood was J. W. Chism. He held a debate with a Baptist preacher out in the Homer community, some eight miles from Lufkin; and visited the congregation which by this time had grown somewhat. Along with their growth, however, had come the "innovators," known as the Christian Church. A bitter spirit was rapidly growing between the two opposing points of view. Brother Chism rebuked both "sides" for their wrong-doing — the Christian Church for having introduced the instrument which precipitated the division, and the Church of Christ for contesting ownership of the property with them. As a result of Chism's visit the faithful brethren met for a few weeks in the homes of some of them, and then moved to the court house.
"After many years" in the court house, a building was purchased from the Negro Baptist church on the corner of Fifth and Groesbeck. The brethren met in this place for quite a while, but finally tore it down and used the material in erecting a new place for worship. The new place was completed in 1942. This is the present Fourth and Groesbeck meeting-house. Two or three additions have been made to it through the years.
From this early beginning the cause of Christ has shown steady growth in the city of Lufkin. Timberland Drive congregation began 1951 as a result of a division in Fourth and Groesbeck. This breach was healed some three or four years later, and a very close friendship has existed between the two groups ever since. Union Road congregation was the next church to start with a nucleus from Fourth and Groesbeck. And, later still, the only "liberal" church in the city began meeting as a group of dissatisfied members from Fourth and Groesbeck. While the initial separation was not "over the issues," the divisive factors soon made their appearance, and the Central Church now is fully identified with the more liberal and "institutional" churches of the land. Meanwhile other congregations have been formed --- Herty, Westside, Loop 287, and the colored congregation (we believe the favored word now is negro or black instead of colored.)
A great host of godly men have labored with these various congregations through the years, one of the earliest and best remembered by the old-timers was W. S. Moody who labored here from 1924 until 1944. W. E. (Bill) Coffman began his work in Lufkin in 1944. He was followed by Roy E. Cogdill, Cled E. Wallace, Bill Thompson, Marvine Kelley, J. B. Jordan, Hoyt Houchen, Robert H. Farish, Jim Everett, and Kent Ellis, the present preacher at Fourth and Groesbeck. The Timberland Drive congregation can look back on Brother Cogdill as their first preacher, followed by Yater Tant, Oliver Murray, Bob Franks, Herschel E. Patton, Robert McDonald, Charles Holt, and their local preacher now, Carl Allen. Union Road, Loop 287, and Westside have been helped by such men as Charles Prince, George W. Patterson, Clyde Strickland, Elmer Moore, Jim McDonald, Earl Pickle, and perhaps others. For many years Clyde Moore was the faithful preacher with the Herty church, but was followed two years ago by Lanny Parish who remains with them.
But what about Lufkin? It is a city that has known both triumph and tragedy insofar as the work of God is concerned. Back in the 1940's the Fourth and Groesbeck church witnessed more than a hundred baptisms in a single year. The Lord's church was very much in evidence in this town, and growth was rapid indeed. Then came the agony of division, the slow and painful years of rebuilding unity and good-will, and the gradual infiltration of a strong "liberal" element in the city. We presume it was almost inevitable that, sooner or later, a liberal church would be started here. And so it was. Many thousands of dollars were sent from places far removed from Lufkin to promote, encourage, and strengthen the new congregation. There is little or no association between the liberal church and other congregations in the area.
The future for Lufkin? We view it with confidence and great expectations. Newest faithful congregation in the city is the Loop 287 church, and it bids fair to become one of the very best in east Texas. Elmer Moore, now of Kerrville, Texas, was a strong factor in helping this new work get off to a most promising start, and on a solid foundation of "doing Bible things in Bible ways." The cause of Christ in Lufkin is forging steadily ahead. It will continue to do so as the pure gospel of Christ is preached and practiced. We truly believe that the influence of the Gospel Guardian through these past twenty years has been a highly favorable factor in the growth of apostolic Christianity in this area.
— F. Y. T.