LIPAN, TEXAS
Compiled by Mildred Ford Thormann – July 2000
Organized in 1904
The Church of Christ in Lipan was begun like all other Churches of Christ. Gospel preachers came into the Lipan community. Christians from other places also moved into the Lipan area. They began to preach the word of God. Jesus said in the parable of the Sower that the Seed is the Word of God (Luke 8:11). That Seed was planted in the hearts of men and women on the first Pentecost after the resurrection of the Lord in the city of Jerusalem about A.D. 33 as recorded in Acts 2. The same Seed was also planted in the hearts of men and women in the Lipan area; they became the Church of Christ in Lipan.
Photo by J.T. Sears
The Lipan Church of Christ was organized in 1904. The first church building was located west of the present school building on what is now a part of the school grounds. It was during W.R. Black’s work in Lipan that the current church building was constructed in 1938. The church building was later remodeled in 1967. A parsonage was built next to the church building. In 1976, the present parsonage was built across the street just south of the tabernacle.
Family names of long association with the Lipan Church of Christ are: Ator, Byrd, Ives, Rippetoe, Followell, Windsor, Herring, Bagwell, Thompson, Tuggle, Taylor, Odom, Richardson, Morris, Matney, Thormann, and Culberhouse.
ELDERS WHO HAVE SERVED IN THE PAST
J.I. Bagwell, Hite Rippetoe, W.B. Byrd, Bill Followell, W.M. Windsor, Floyd J. Ator, Mack Thompson, Maurice Taylor, Butler Ives, Fred Thormann, Elmer Brock, A.J. Brumbaugh, Marvin Brock, and Charles Perkins.
PRESENT ELDERS
Verne Tipton and Frank Smith
DEACONS WHO HAVE SERVED IN THE PAST
Will Richardson, Butler Ives, Mack Thompson, Fred Thormann, James Nall, Carl D. Ator, Olen Morris, Vaughn Addison, Virgil Matney, Woodrow Brown, Marvin Brock, Buel Privitt, Charles Perkins, Art Tawater, Randy Perry, Verne Tipton, Randy Thormann, Elmer Brock, and Marcus Welch
PRESENT DEACONS
Bill Hill and Dex Fairbanks
LIST OF PREACHERS AT LIPAN CHURCH OF CHRIST
Brother Benjamin F. Forbes-preached in Lipan on appointment basis from 1920 to mid-1930’s
Brothers Harold Thomas, Paul McClung, Olen Hicks, and Brother Cash were other preachers during the 1930’s
Brother Wesley Mickey was the first full time preacher from 1934-1935
Brother Cantwell-1936 to 1937
Brother W.R. Black-1938 to 1939
Preachers during the early 1940’s were Brothers Arthur David, Davie Ranspot, and O.J. Russell; Brother Glen Bishop preached for three months in 1944
Brother R.T. Robinson – 1946 to 1947
Brother Winston Harrison – 1948 to 1949
Brother Carl A. Collins – 1950 to 1951
Brother Bill Hearn – 1952 to 1953
Brother J. Tomlinson – 1954 to 1955
Brother Robert Bankhead – 1955 to 1956
Brother Bruce Beard – 1956 to 1957
Brother Willis Jernigan IV – 1958 to 1959
Brother Frank Lilly – 1959 to 1962
Brother Claude Hall – 1963 to 1965
Brother Byron Tidwell – 1966 to 1967
Brother Jim McDermett – 1967 to 1971
Brother Eugene Clapp – 1971 to 1975
Brother David Clark – 1975 to 1976
Brother Nelson Stark – 1976 to 1980
Brother Greg Knight – 1980 to 1983
Brother Tom Haddox – 1983 to 1985
Brother James Scott – February 2, 1986 to July 26, 1987.
Brother Scott had a stroke on July 21, 1987 and died on July 26, 1987.
Brother Mike Armentrout – 1987 to February 1990
Brother Byron Tidwell – March 1990 to February 28, 1995.
Brother Tidwell died on February 28, 1995
Brother Glen Frasier – June 1995 to February 1, 1996
Brother Robin Verdugo – June 1996 to December 1999
Brother Floyd Jones – January 2000 to present