Title
An Unbroken Chain: The History of Coats Baptist Church, 1910-2010
Files
Description
This book is a history of Coats (N.C.) Baptist Church written by an academic historian. Founded in 1910 by James Archibald Campbell, the principal of Buies Creek Academy, along with 48 devout citizens, the church grew by 2010 to over one-thousand. From the beginning, the Coats church was intimately connected with the civic, educational, and religious life of the community. Lay leaders in the church were inevitably leaders in the local government and schools. Pastor Campbell, an orthodox believer in “old time religion,” infused the people with what he called “the plain and simple truths of the Bible.” In the 1950s, after coming through both depression and war, Rev. J. Ben Eller reinvigorated the Coats Baptist Church with his firm adherence to Scripture. He believed “the Bible to be the infallible Word of the Eternal God.” Eller oversaw the construction of a new facility and the building of a church parsonage. Eller was followed by Rev. A. Howard Beard, a transplanted Yankee and the longest serving pastor of the church. Beard preached in Coats for twenty-five years. He was more nuanced in his religious views than were Eller or Campbell, but saw a steady growth at Coats Baptist in the years of his ministry. From 1991 until 2013, the church was shepherded by Rev. Jesse W. Mooney, Jr.—a strong theological conservative and man of “Christ-like” qualities. Under him, the church not only grew, but constructed a new $4-million facility north of the town in 1999.
College
Ida Jane Dacus Library
Publication Date
2010
Publisher
Coats Baptist Church
City
Coats
Keywords
Coats Baptist Church, History, Baptists, Church buildings, North Carolina, Coats, History, Coats (N.C.), Church history, 20th century
Disciplines
History
