The little Midway Church (Full Gospel Tabernacle Church of the Living God) rests near the Hopkins-
Wood County Line, and has served as home to the congregation since beginning beneath a brush arbor
in the 1930's.

 

"Chapel In The Woods"
Home to Historic Hopkins County Church

 

by: Bobby McDonald

We can only imagine the circumstances in a poor rural community, gripped by the Great Depression of the 1930's, when farming was the only way of life and no one had any money. Well, it was during these times that a group of devoted individuals, near the Wood County line, in Hopkins County, gathered beneath a huge brush arbor and formed what would become the Full Gospel Tabernacle Church of the Living God. The group met for a couple of summers beneath the brush arbor for summertime camp meetings. Then, it was in October 1936, following a successful revival, that the residents of South Reilly Springs decided to pool their energies and what little money they had, to build a tabernacle.

 

Jewell McKay, center, was one of the landowners who donated the acre of land for the Full Gospel Tabernacle
Church of the Living God, on October 9, 1936. He is shown here, in the 1940's, with ministers Sister Lillie
Chaffin and Sister Effie Carlton.

 

J.J. Ogles and Jewel McKay donated an acre of land from the farm that Ogles was purchasing from McKay, and the Full Gospel Church had a permanent place to build. With hours of sweat, the men in the congregation built the building, that featured a sheet-iron roof and sides that could be raised in the summertime for air-flowing comfort.

Trustees listed for the church in 1936, included: John Moreland, Jap Moreland, Paul Hooker, Freeman Starrett, Arthur Holt, Lon Burns, Albert Pritchett, Ben Russell, and Richard Reppond. Brother Lemuel and Sister Annie Price were the ministers, who lived in a house next to the tabernacle.

These members of the Midway Church pose in the 1940's. Among those on the front row are Sister Avie
Ogles and Rev. Blivins.

 

Some 72 two years later, it's Mrs. Mamie Moreland, the daughter of Brother Albert Pritchett, who later married Travis Moreland, that "carries the torch" for the little chapel in the woods. Now, known by most people in the community, as The Midway Church, a more permanent building that was built in 1947, occupies the property and is lovingly tended by Mrs. Moreland and others in the community.

 

 

"I may be the only one who shows up on Sunday, here," exclaims Mrs. Moreland, who is 93 years old. "But, I just keep on coming to serve the Lord, just like I've done most of my life!"

"I was born on August 1, 1914, just a 'spit and a holler,' from this little church!" exclaims Moreland. "My folks lived in an old house over near Don Bussell's place, south of here, and they were Albert L. and Lula McLaughlin Pritchett! I've lived here most all of my life!"

 

Mrs. Mamie Pritchett Moreland, who is 93, and was born "a spit and holler"
from the Midway Church, sits in her pew at the church, as she faithfully serves
the Lord. "I may be the only one to show up on a Sunday, but I keep on
coming to serve the Lord!" proclaims Moreland.

 

The little congregation continues to shrink in numbers, but holds a world of memories for Moreland and a host of other farming families in the community, as they remember when the building would be full on Sundays and at revival meetings.

Moreland recalls the following people who have attended, from memory: Son and Stessell Ogles and their three children, James, Gerald, and Wanda; Mrs. Effie Ogles; Avie and Jude Ogles and their grandson, James; Sy and Zeffie Reppond and their grandchildren Robert, Donald, and James; Faula and Will Cooksey; Dalton Baldwin; Winnie and Jack Ogles; Mrs. Perry; Marrion and Ethel Reppond, Freeman and Ruth Starrett and their son, Bill Jack; Dick and Agnes Taylor and their children, Pauline, Evelyn, and Sonny; Louise and Pete Hooker and their children, Ronnie, Sue, Vivian, Ellen, and Jeannie; John and Jane Moreland; Brother Jack Beets; Paul and Odessa Hooker and children, Katee, James Paul, Jerry, and Jackie; Dewitt and Jewell Moreland; Maggie and John Wilkison and children Charles, Nell, and Billy Hugh; Maggie and Freeman Starrett; Brother Author Holt and Junior; Richard and Willie Mae Reppond; Mrs. Jessie Whittle; Jasper and Carrie Moreland; Albert and Lula Pritchett and children, Dewitt, Billy, and Louis; the Ben Russell family; the Lon Burns Family; and of course, the Travis and Mamie Moreland Family with children Joyce, Juanita, Rayburn, and Marcus.

Members of the Midway Church pose in the early 1950's, after they had built the permaent building
on the property, acquired in 1936.

Following Brother and Sister Price as pastors of the little church include: Sister Blevins, Brother Bill Winters, Brother and Sister Adair; Brother and Sister Lunsford, Brother and Sister Monroe, Brother and Sister Dollins, Brother Richardson, Brother and Sister Clements, Brother and Sister Clyde Elliott, Brother and Sister Anderson, Brother and Sister Carlton, Sister Lillie Chaffin; Sister Essie Carlton; Brother Odie Pritchett, and Brother McGary. Brother Johnson and Brother Eason were among those coming to hold summer revivals.

"There were week and two-week long revivals in the summertime," remembers some of those associated with the church. "Once the crops were 'laid by' in the summer, it was revival time!"

 

This wooden reminder hangs in the Midway Full Gospel Church, to mark how
the little congregation began, in the 1930's.

 

And, it was on May 17, 2008, that a number of the decendents of church members gathered at the little church and aided in cleaning the building and grounds. Those attending included: Dough Pritchett, Joyce Ponder, Billy and Barbara Pritchett, Jerry and Carolyn Pritchett, James and Uleta Taylor, Ronnie and Connie Pritchett, Jerry Hooker, Mamie Moreland, Willie Mae Pritchett, Jerry and Shirley McDonald, and children, Diana Darren, Jacob, and Anna. Some painted, some trimmed limbs, and some cleaned on the inside of the building. Later, they enjoyed a "dinner-on-the-grounds" of hotdogs and the trimmings, and went inside for a song service and prayer session. This was all done first to praise the Lord and secondly, to honor Mrs. Mamie Pritchett Moreland, who continues to serve the Lord at the little Midway Church.

 

Among those recently gathered at the Midway Church to clean and keep the property maintained, were
left to right, Uleta and Sonny Taylor, Joyce Ponder, Billy Pritchett, Mrs. Mamie Moreland, and Juanita Burgess.

 

"Just how many folks can say they went to the same little church almost all their lives?" questions Mrs. Moreland. "You're truly blessed to be surrounded by family and friends, who want to serve the Lord!"

 

"You're truly blessed to be surrounded by family and friends, who
want to serve the Lord!" proclaims Mrs. Mamie Moreland, as she
stands at the entrance to Midway Full Gospel Church.

 

And, Moreland has witnessed those friends and neighbors coming to the little clearing in the woods, in Southern Hopkins County, for over 70 years. "They've come in wagons, horseback, even on a mule, and then they started coming in Model-A's and Model-T's, to coming in air conditioned automobiles today," expresses Moreland. "I guess if I live long enough, somebody's going to show up in a spaceship, one of these Sundays!"

 

"Bless the hands that serve the Lord!"

_____