SMITH CHAPEL

         It would appear that we have lost most of the church’s history; we allowed people to transition from earth to glory without having real conversation about how our church began. I (Anthony Taylor) remember once having a meeting with the members of Smith
Chapel; right in the midst of the meeting stood one of the eldest deacons and he said “I remember when the church fell into troubled times, many of us were called to come and we did just that. This deacon along with many others worked hard to bring the church up
to where it needed to be: Mother Williams, Mother Leila Henderson, and Bro.Paul Hicks (the general), Mother McCartney and many others. Rest well deacon Marvinell Hollie, deacon Paul Hicks, mother Leila Henderson and many others… I will have to admit to you that a lot will be left out and perhaps today someone can share some piece of history with us that will help us toward our projected future. History is important in our society today; it’s been said that if you don’t know your history you don’t know your future. We did a little research and contacted Superintendent Michael Clerkly (formally from Palestine, TX and formally a member of Smith Chapel) for some details about those who have proceeded before us and this is what he had to say: The late pastor D. L. Smith was the founder of the church back in the 1950’s; Supt. Clerkly wasn’t aware if the church started in the brush abhors or not but he was sure about South street (that property does exist today). After the demise of the late D. L. Smith, the church was then under the leadership of the late A. C. Craig 1960s – 1970s who took the church to another level and the glory of the Lord fell in the place. After the late A. C. Craig, then came the late Supt. Dickie who also took the church to another level in the Lord. After the late Supt. Dickie, the late Supt. Milton Algood became pastor and he had a vision to move the church from South Street to its current location 421W. Coronaca St. The church truly went to another level and was blessed by his ministry, teaching and preaching; we are truly grateful for his legacy that he left behind.
Today our current pastor embraced the vision of the late Supt. Milton Algood; after a year of observation and prayer our current leader was led to move us to another level in God.

         Our current leader, shepherd and visionary Pastor Anthony Taylor - with his wife, family and church family working by his side pastor Taylor began to initiate changes as the Lord instructed. These changes consisted of the current vision plan to fix the cosmetic defects, upgrade the sanctuary with 21st century standards to meet the rising demands of the saints…Our current leader asked the members to pray with him that God would speak concerning the mortgage and God did just that. God spoke to pastor Taylor concerning the mortgage. He spoke and said “write them a letter.” Pastor Taylor thought it was foolish and argued with God, but God was persistent about writing that letter to Evangelistic Temple. Needless to say they agreed to the terms in the letter concerning the church mortgage, if we gave back the two houses attached to the church. Some of the member decided that we needed to keep the
house on the corner so that possible home owners would not take away from the church’s appearance and/or become disrespectful during service times, etc. Pastor Taylor countered the proposal by Evangelistic Temple and they agreed yet again to sell the house. Pastor then took a team with him to the bank that consisted of one of our church mothers, Mother Williams and the church secretary Dist. Missionary Ruthie Hicks. The Lord set them up with a banker by the name of David; he gave them a lesson on how things should go, but made exceptions for the church to receive a loan for $60k. The saints came together and began to work, they paid the loan down to $29K, but in the midst of this project things began to happen. The church suffered some roof damage by strong storms; the insurance company dropped the coverage policy, but the church didn’t get discouraged. The team along with the pastor went back to the bank for a loan of $21k; without hesitation the banker (David) gave us the loan. We were right back where we started, but we were not deterred, we continue to work just as hard to pay the loan off. One thing after another began to happen, but the saints continue to work with the vision.

         Pastor then asked the saints for a $5 sacrifice every week for 5 months and the members responded without hesitation. As a result of their $5 sacrifice new lighting was purchased for our sanctuary and electricians worked all weekend to have the lighting ready before Sunday service – look at what the Lord has done! We’ve had to replace our AC unit; we’ve had to repair parts of the flooring in the sanctuary, we’ve had to replace one of the columns because of termites, yes we’ve repaired the fellowship hall bathrooms and we have totally modernized our sound system with some of the top name brands in equipment as well as overhauled our organ to get a better sound, lastly we’ve purchased TV monitors for the upcoming camera production system. Truly the Lord has taken us to another level.
But not only has the Lord been with us through upgrades and repairs, but the membership has increased and with this increase, our leaders Pastor Taylor and Missionary Taylor has begun new members training and leadership training; these saints were taught about
receiving the baptism of the Holy Ghost, working in ministry and how to live a holy life. Much prayer has gone forth and God have answered! Today, one of our prayers is being answered and we are so excited to experience it and to be lead to the next level of ministry! Please continue to pray for the Smith Chapel Church of God In Christ church family as we continue
to work in the Lord’s vineyard, while it is day!