OUR HISTORY

1900 - 1920

At his death on August 17, 1902, church member Ephriam R. Moore willed his home to the church. Although located across town on Main Street South (currently East/West Glade Street), this house became the church parsonage, used by pastors from 1902 into the late 1930s. Thereafter, the parsonage was rented until condemned and torn down by the town in the mid-1970s, an action that is believed by present-day members to have been illegally done by a single town official of that period. The vacant lot currently borders Glade Service Center.

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Throughout the early 1900s, Ebenezer continued to maintain a noteworthy membership for a town the size of Glade Spring. Some members came from places other than Glade Spring: Wyndale, Meadowview, and Chilhowie.

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1. From Wyndale, family names included Foster, Gillenwater, Delap, Weeks, Wheeler, and Debose.

2. From Meadowview, family names included Estell, Anderson, Bell, Jones, Guy, Cooley, Willoughby, Lockett, and Goings.

3. From Chilhowie, family names included Fields, Ganaway, and Preston.

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 It is unknown why or how these members traveled this distance in 1913-23 or whether this “membership”  was some special arrangement that was not explained in the documents of that time period. It is believed by some that Ebenezer was part of a Chilhowie-Glade Spring-Wyndale Circuit. Nevertheless, names from these locations were listed on the Ebenezer roll.

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Records show 97 members were listed in 1900, 81 members were listed in 1916, and 98 members were listed in 1918. 

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1921 - 1939

During the 1920s and 1930s, certain socioeconomic factors started to impact the Black population of Washington Country and Glade Spring. Prior to the mid-1930s, no public education beyond seventh grade was provided for Black children. Additionally, employment opportunities, especially for adult Black men, were limited. As a result, many people - sometimes entire families - began to move to cities such as Knoxville, Washington, New York City, Cincinnati, and Columbus, seeking better opportunities. In some instances, youths were sent to live with relatives and friends. Some of these youths went to Roanoke to receive a high school education at Lucy Addison High School, while others were sent to Morristown College, which provided high-school equivalency training. 

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The socioeconomic conditions negatively impacted the membership of Ebenezer Church. By the 1930s, church membership was listed at 34. The family names listed on the roll at the time were the following: Brown, Edwards, Campbell, Hutcheson, Miller, Pettis, Porter, Seals, Taylor, Tucket, Waugh, and Wright. 

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1940 - 1949

By the mid-1940s, additional family names were mentioned in the church minutes: Butler, Bradley, Stuart, Montgomery, and Jones. However, the total membership was not significantly increased. 

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Reflecting the attitudes of an earlier day, the listed trustees for Ebenezer were all male—from the Church’s inception on into the 1940s.In the 1940s and 1950s, trustees included: C. B. Seals, Crockett Seals, William Hutcheson, Carson Stuart, James Butler, Samuel Montgomery, Emmett Butler, Kyle Bradley, W. B. Pettis, Tommie Tucker, and Jack Stuart. In later years, women were included: Rachel Campbell, Eulalia Hutcheson, Leona Miller, Meredith Stuart, Georgia Pettis, Mary Jones, Annie Bradley, Elsie Preston, and Jean Preston.

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1950 - 1999

In the late 1950s, under the pastorage of L. W. Coffey, the youth of Ebenezer became regionally known as the result of the organization of a youth choir. The church name became synonymous with  “good” singing. Guided by the pastor and church members Mary Jones, Annie Bradley, and Eulalia Hutcheson, this choir traveled the area, singing hymns and gospel music. They traveled as far as Pulaski and Norton in Virginia, Rogersville in Tennessee, and to many churches in the immediate area. Choir members included Kyle Jr., James, and David Bradley; Nina, Margaret, and Violet Porter; and Paul Montgomery. (At times, these members were joined by youth from other churches—i.e., Linda, Wilma, and Phyllis Stuart from Fairview Baptist). Jerry Jones was the pianist, who, at age 12, began his musical journey by sharing musical responsibilities of the church with his mother, Mary Waugh Jones, and with Meredith Stuart. Jones’ grandmother, Gillyard Waugh, had also played for the church in earlier years. By 1959, the youth choir provided most of the music of the church.

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Music programs and special services were always an important part of the Ebenezer year. Such services provided an important bridge between local and regional churches of various denominations.

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During this same period, Homecoming celebrations were used as the focal point for fundraising. Noteworthy among these services were the ones in 1960, 1987, 1992, and 1994:

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1960 Homecoming: 

The Rev. Henry Clay, First Baptist, Radford, delivered the 11 a.m. message on August 28, 1960; and The Rev. Jasper Burrell, from Glade Spring’s Fairview and Plum Creek Baptist, delivered the 3 p.m. message.

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1987 Homecoming: 

Attendance at the 1987 Homecoming set a record with more than 50 visitors present and with the guest speaker being former Glade Spring resident, Elder George Washington, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

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1992 Homecoming: 

The 1992 Homecoming had as guest speaker Jack Stuart, a former Ebenezer member who lived in Richmond at the time.

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1994 Homecoming: 

The 1994  Homecoming featured as guest speaker Rev. Greta Weldon from Radford. Her husband W. G. Weldon, pastored at Ebenezer from 1977 until 1981.

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Throughout the period 1950-1990 and beyond, Ebenezer relied heavily on special services and letters to former members to support the work and finances of the church. At times, fundraising projects had ingenious names: grapefruit rally, weight rally, stay-at-home tea, silver tea, and door-knob rally. Frequent musical visitors included: Elvena Bowers, Soloist, Elizabethton; Valley Street Baptist Church Choir, Abingdon; John Wesley Choirs, Bristol; Hallelujah Chorus, Chilhowie; Stars of Hope, Wytheville; Lee Street Baptist Choir, Bristol; New Hope Baptist Choir, Bristol; First Baptist Choir, Radford; and Fairview and Plum Creek Baptist, Mt. Calvery Holiness Choirs, Glade Spring.

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In the absence of a fellowship hall and related facilities in the church building, use was made of the Glade Community Center in the 1950s and 1960s and the Glade Senior Center in the 1980s  and beyond. Homecoming dinners were served in these locations as were the dinners for the Sunday School Superintendents’ Conference—hosted by Ebenezer in the early 1960s. Refreshments for other special services, especially those services in which the participants traveled great distances, were also served at these locations.

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With the end of the 1990s, Ebenezer Church ventured towards a third century. The following ministers served during this time period:  Kenneth Sawyer from 1996 to 1998; Laura Blair from 1998 to 1999; and John Roe from 1999 to 2001.