Knob Creek Church of Christ
Knob Creek Church of Christ located approximately 5 miles east of Dukedom, Dukedom Tennessee, was the first Restoration Movement Church to use the name "Church of Christ."
Some of the early settlers arriving in southern Graves County, Kentucky and northern Weakley County, Tennessee brought with them the teachings of Barton W. Stone and the "Christians Only" movement, and wanted to have a local church where they could worship. These settlers located John Parkhill from Calloway County, Kentucky and sent one of their members to summon him to help found the congregation. In June, 1834, Parkhill established the congregation, incorporating the "Christians Only" teachings of Stone and the "Reformed Baptist" teachings of Alexander Campbell, Stone and Campbell having merged their movements in 1832.
The church was established in the home of member Simon Foy and his wife Charlotte Simms Foy, who had immigrated to the area in about 1828 from Limestone County, Alabama, and whose homestead was on Knob Creek, near the present Clinard farm. The first church building was erected in about 1845, south of the Foy homestead on the border between Kentucky and Tennessee, about a mile west of where the present building stands. Although no longer located on Knob Creek, the congregation retained the original name. This was the first Restorationist congregation to use the name "Church of Christ", a name now in use by thousands of Restoration Movement congregations worldwide.
The founding members were Simon and Charlotte Foy, their daughters Charlotte and Elizabeth, their sons James and William, John Johnson and his wife Elizabeth, and Uel Olive.
The Church has since been through three buildings. The latest was built in 1957 and currently sits on State Line Road, east of Dukedom, Tennessee on the Kentucky/Tennessee state line. It currently has 19 members. The church jokes about sitting on the state line, and the line is literally in front of the communion table. The minister stands in Kentucky and preaches to the congregation which sits in Tennessee during the services. Many other Churches of Christ have branched from this particular church and are still in existence today. The current minister is Steve Cochrum. Past Ministers include Charles Wall, Dennis Crutchfield, David Wilson, James Shockley and Jimmy Canter.
Notes
|