ALLISON BAPTIST CHURCH

Founded ~1888

The early records of this church have been lost or destroyed. Consequently, no one of the present generation knows just when the first services were conducted in the community, nor who was responsible for the beginning. Mrs. Jewel Seymour believes the first services were in the one-room school house which stood on the same ground, and that J.T. Cook was pastor in 1888, and possibly the first pastor. At least five couples were in the early organization. They were Neal and Ida Tolbert, Joe and Sallie Tolbert, Kale and Sarah Huffstutler, Lusia and Ella Williams, and I.C. and Ada Addison. The earliest existent minutes reveal that the church was called Liberty Missionary Baptist Church of Christ. Minutes from 1935 to 1944 indicate that the church was called Liberty Baptist Church of Allison. Minutes of August 24, 1947 call it Allison Baptist Church.

Twenty-two pastors have served the church since 1925. Those serving longest were Fred Puryear, 1928 to 1934, and L.B. Moss, 1973-1979. The church became a full-time church in 1953. On March 27, 1955, the old school house which had been converted into a church building burned, and services were conducted in the homes of the members until the present building was completed. The present membership is 42. An indication of the loyalty of the little band is seen in attendance at the Workers’ Conferences of the Association. They have taken the percentage award for attendance for so long that it is expected that they will take it each time. The present pastor is Rev. Wayne Ford who has led them faithfully since 1979.