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HISTORY
The Green Plain Church of Christ, located near Hazel, Kentucky, in
Calloway County, was organized January 28, 1854. Nine charter members
signed a constitution stating: “We, the members of the Church of Christ
whose names are subscribed, do organize ourselves into a congregation
and pledge ourselves to take the New Testament scriptures as a guide for
our faith and practice.”
In 1868, Abe S. Thompson donated an acre of land on the Murray Paris
Road that was to become the location of the Green Plain Church of
Christ. It is possible that prior to 1868, the church had been meeting
in the Green Plain School building about a half-mile west of the Green
Plain Cemetery on Highway 641. It is assumed that the church moved from
the cemetery area to the new location because a new road had been built
connecting Murray to Paris, Tennessee, and more people would be able to
stop for worship. Mr. W. F. White and Mr. And Mrs. Elwood White have
donated additional property.
The first services held for the newly located congregation was on the
second Saturday in October 1868. John McCoy was the preacher in this
service and continued as the regular preacher for the congregation for
several years. He would preach both Saturday and Sunday once a month;
his pay was by contributions, sometimes receiving no more that $2.50 for
the two days.
As the church membership changed over the years, so did the church
building itself. A new building was built in 1912. In 1946, a basement
was dug and the building was remodeled and moved onto the basement.
Additional classrooms were added in 1970. In 1999, an annex was built
which is used for classrooms and fellowship activities.
Baptisms during the early days of the Green Plain church were quite
different from today’s baptismal services. The baptisms were conducted
in the Jenkins Creek and Clarks River. A baptistery was installed in the church building in 1948.
Taking the New Testament Scripture as the guide for our faith and
practice means that we strive to duplicate the pattern of the
first
century church as we find revealed in the New Testament. We do not
conform to this world (Rom 12:2), or to the commandments of men (Matt.
15.9); but we constantly strive to be transformed that we may show and
teach what is the good, acceptable and perfect will of God (Rom. 12:2).
This transformation causes us to constantly put on the new man, which we
became when we obeyed the Gospel. This is done by renewing our minds in
the knowledge of God’s Word (Rom. 6:4, 12:2; Col. 3:10; 2 Cor. 5:17). It
is our desire that all people who believe in the God of the Bible and in
Jesus Christ His Son will join us in being just “Christians” as we find
in our New Testament.
The Green Plain Church of Christ is now more than 150 years old. If the
past years are any indication of the church’s future, things look bright
for the congregation. We believe the close adherence of this
congregation to the will of God will insure the Green Plain Church of
Christ a place in the future of Calloway County just as she has in her
history.
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