Jones Memorial Presbyterian Church began in 1913 as a mission Sunday School.

Later realizing the need of a church in the community, the organizers of the Sunday School, along with a number of the officers and members from the First and Second Churches of Meridian, secured permission from the Presbytery of Meridian to begin work to establish a church. As a result, what was then known as the Fourth Presbyterian Church of Meridian came into being. The first officers were R.K. Simmons as elder and W.E. Holder as deacon.

The original membership consisted of 41 charter members, 14 of whom came on profession of faith, with the remaining by letter from other Presbyterian churches in the city.

On Oct. 31, 1919, the church changed its name to J.E. Jones Memorial Presbyterian Church as a tribute to Dr. J.E. Jones, deceased pastor-emeritus of First Presbyterian Church.

A number of years after the name change the congregation voted to change the name from J.E. Jones Memorial Presbyterian to Jones Memorial Presbyterian Church.

The lot for the church was bought from Manley Williams for the sum of $150. He donated $100 of the sum, which left only $50. The church building was built on faith, no money in sight.

The first manse at 4305 19th St. was purchased from Beulah Rape in 1919, and was remodeled for a manse. It burned in 1926, and a modern brick bungalow was erected in the spring of 1927 at a cost between $4,000 and $5,000.

The church was eventually remodeled, and in 1952 an educational building was added, which is still being used for Sunday School.

Wanting to build a new sanctuary the Session Minutes of May 9, 1965 records plans to establish a barometer of 1,000 bricks. For each $10 put in a building fund, a brick is to be taken away from the stack and when the last brick is gone, there will be $10,000 additional in the fund. As soon as is reasonably possible after the last brick is taken, the contract for a new sanctuary is to be let on approval of the congregation.

A building committee was elected, and the congregation gave the committee approval to negotiate a loan of up to $100,000 for the new building. In June of 1966, the foundation was poured on the property previously purchased by the church, known as the Luter property. During the building process, the congregation voted to purchase the property adjoining the east line of the building site, known as the Carlisle Property, for the sum of $5,000.

On Feb. 5, 1967 the congregation held its first worship service in its new $109,000 sanctuary.

The old church has been fully removed, and a covered shelter has been built for a place of fellowship and to use for events like our Fall Fest, church picnics and children’s events.

Ministers:

Rev. E.P. Craddock – 1914-1915

Rev. H.M. Jenkins – 1916-1923

Rev. John S. Thomas – 1924-1927

Rev. S.P. Dubois – 1927-1943

Rev. E. McKinley Weaver – 1944-1949

Rev. R.C. Schwanebeck – 1950-1959

Rev. C.L. Sanford – 1959-1964

Rev. Wilson D. Webb – 1964-1973

Rev. Jim Long – 1973-1974

Rev. Ben Dunagan – 1974-1979

Rev. Frank O. Brown – 1980-1985

Rev. Warren Foster – 1986-1987

Rev. Phillip Williams – 1987-1995

Rev. Allan W. Singletary – 1995-1997

Rev. Douglas Hughes – 1997-2000

Rev. Allan W. Singletary – 2000 to present

Charter Members

Mrs. Nannie C. Bozeman

Mrs. Alice Bell

Mrs. Nannie R. Crane

Mrs. A.E. Clark

Miss Estelle Clark

Miss Madge Clark

Miss Daisy Clark

Mr. John Coughran

Miss Angie Coughran

Mrs. J.M. Goodman

Mr. Edwin Goodman

Mr. J.W. Hagemeyer

Mr. C.E. King

Mr. John H. Kennedy

Mrs. Henrietta Kennedy

Mrs. Jane Kennedy

Miss Henrietta Julia Kennedy

Miss Mary Rebecca Kennedy

Master Richard Jemison Kennedy

Master Jackson Wm. Hagemeyer

Mrs. Sarah P. Kelly

Mrs. Mary E. Simmons

Mrs. Lena Boykin Holder

Miss Estelle Simmons

Mrs. Gertrude Tate

Mrs. Laura A. Tibbetts

Miss Grace Tibbetts

Miss Myrtle Hazel Tibbetts

Master Wm. Franklin Tibbetts

Master Harvin Covert

Master James C. Covert

Master David Gordon Stainton

Master Robert Benjamin Bustin

Master Walter Jones

Miss Birdie Lee Jones

Miss Rebecca Mildred Young

Master Percy Young

Place of worship profiles appear on The Star’s Saturday Religion page. If you have a place of worship you would like to nominate for a feature, please contact Cheryl Owens at cowens@themeridianstar.com.