The First Presbyterian Church of Lenoir, NC

1852	July 31: The first Presbyterian church in Caldwell County is founded by three Lenoir residents: James Harper, his wife Caroline Harper, and Miss Emma Baker. They meet in the little log church called Fairfield, which Harper built. Harper is the first Elder and Clerk of the church, which is a part of the Concord Presbytery.
1857	The Rev. Jesse Rankin and his family move to Lenoir. In addition to being a traveling Presbyterian evangelist, Rankin will occasionally pastor the small Lenoir congregation. Before, the church had no regular local pastor.
1859	A new sanctuary is built on the site of our current church, close to the Rankin home.
1863	Matthias Bernhardt and Hugh Hamilton become the church’s first deacons.
1869	The Rev. Rankin gives up all his other evangelistic duties to serve the Lenoir Presbyterians.
1873	The first recorded black member, Martha Harper, joins the church.
1874	October: the Rev. Rankin retires due to poor health. He dies in 1876.
1885	The Rev. Colin A. Munroe begins what would be the second-longest pastorate in the history of the church (1885-1903).
1895	Church membership passes 100 for the first time.
1895	The first women’s group in the church, the Manse Improvement Society, is founded, with Miss Emma Rankin (Jesse’s daughter) as president.
1902	The Ladies Aid Society (later the Ladies’ Auxiliary and forerunner to the Women of the Church) succeeds the Manse Improvement Society.
1902	The congregation approves a plan to build a new church building. An attempt is made to move the old church, but it is destroyed in the process. Only the bell, still ringing in our church today, escapes damage.
1903	The new church is built, although it is not dedicated until 1905. Rev. Munroe retires.
1910	The church’s first pipe organ is donated by Major George W. F. Harper, son of James Harper.
1918	The Rev. A.A. McLean, D.D., begins the longest pastorate in the church’s history (36 years).
1922	A new Sunday School annex (where the Commons Building is today) is built onto the Sanctuary.
1940	The "Couples" Sunday School Class is established for young married couples (likely the first class for adults of both sexes). It endures for more than forty years.
1945	Jean (Mrs. Lynn) Bernhardt becomes our church’s organist. She continues (with a brief interruption) until 1987, and still plays occasionally today.
1952	Shortly after the church celebrates its Centennial, a Youth Building is constructed behind the church (today home to Adult Life Programs).
1954	Dr. McLean retires and becomes Pastor Emeritus, returning occasionally from his home at Montreat, NC.
1965	An Education Building (still in use today) is completed, with a large Fellowship Hall.
1968-69	The 1903 Sanctuary is torn down and a new Sanctuary is constructed. For eighteen months, the congregation worships in the Fellowship Hall. The new Sanctuary is dedicated in 1970.
1970	The congregation votes in favor of making elders’ terms in office fixed instead of for life. At the same time, Dr. Jane Carswell becomes the first woman elected elder and Sarah Lackey and Kathleen Hendrix become the first women elected deacons.
1973	A year after the Rev. Parker Williamson becomes the church’s minister, the church hires the Rev. Dick Neelly as its first Associate Minister.
1977	The Rev. Moffett Swaim becomes the church’s first female Associate Minister and the first female pastor in the Presbytery of Western North Carolina.
1983	The northern (United Presbyterian Church in the USA) and the southern (Presbyterian Church in the United States) branches of the Presbyterian family, divided since the Civil War, reunite, and our church becomes part of the new Presbytery of Western North Carolina.
1989	June: Parker Williamson retires after seventeen years to become full-time editor of the Presbyterian Layman. October: Just after the church is finished cleaning up the damage from Hurricane Hugo, arson strikes the 1922 middle building (see pictures here). The building has to be demolished.
1991	After a long interim (and two interim ministers), the Rev. Gerrit Dawson becomes our church’s new minister.
1992	At a memorable church Homecoming, the new Commons Building is dedicated.
1995	The church begins to videotape its Sunday morning services for broadcast on local television.
1996	Prof. Alan Torrance gives the first of the church’s Jean Alexander Bernhardt Lectures.
1999	The Beall family gives Fairfield, once the home of James Harper, to the church, which establishes the Lorraine and Harper Beall Study Center at Fairfield.
2002	Major renovations to the church grounds and to the Christian Life Center, the First Presbyterian Church of Lenoir celebrates 150 years of beholding, kindling, and bearing the light of Jesus Christ.
2004   2005 2006 2008	After more than 13 years in Lenoir, the Rev. Dr. Gerrit Dawson accepts a call to become senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Baton Rouge, LA.  Associate Minister, the Rev. George Saylor, assumes interim leadership as a search for a new minister begins. The Rev. Robert F. (Rob) Hinman receives and accepts God's call as our new senior pastor. The Rev. George Saylor accepts a call to launch a new church near London, Ontario in Canada. We are joining God in His work as He uses us to write new chapters in the history of this congregation...