DUANE
Get the App
Duane's take
The way I heard it, the official marker tells the story like this. Way down about three miles south of where you're standing now, in a little settlement called Wadeville, something took root. The date was June 5, 1869, and the place was the home of Noble Wade, a man born in 1808 who would pass from this world in 1878.
It was there, in that home, that a Cumberland Presbyterian Church was organized, and that congregation would not stay quiet for long. The first building they put up did triple duty, serving at once as a church, a school, and a Masonic Lodge hall. One building, three lives.
That's Wadeville for you. Then 1881 came along, and with it the railroad, and with the railroad came the founding of Kerens. The congregation read the situation and made their move.
They purchased this very lot, and by 1883 they had a church building standing right here and ready for worship. But here is where it gets neighborly. The Presbyterians didn't keep this house to themselves.
For several years, they shared it with the Baptists and the Methodists. Three denominations, one roof, and apparently enough grace to go around. And the marker leaves us with one more quiet fact worth holding onto: four members of this congregation went on to enter full-time Christian ministry.
A church that started in a farmhouse in Wadeville, moved with the railroad, shared its walls with its neighbors, and sent four of its own out into the wider world. That's not a small story. That's a seed that kept on growing.
What the marker says
This congregation originated in the community of Wadeville (3 mi. S), where a Cumberland Presbyterian Church was organized at the home of Noble Wade (1808-1878) on June 5, 1869. The first church building also served as a school and Masonic Lodge hall. In 1881, when Kerens was founded along the railroad, the congregation purchased this lot and completed a church building in 1883. They shared this facility with the Baptists and the Methodists for several years. Four members of this church have entered full-time Christian ministry.