The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1919-11-28
THE I'M SENTINEL

rothers, who is still the pastor
emeritus of the church he served for
almost forty years. Coming here,
just as the epidemic of Yellow fever
had swept the town and left hardly
a home untouched, he found the
Presbyterian Church, very weak in
numbers. Only one elder and one
deacon were left to act as officers.
The Sunday School was under the
leadership Of Mrs. Highgate, the
mother of Mrs. j. E. Huntington, and
Mrs. j. G.. Wright. Gradually the
! growth of the Church progressed, un-
! til at the time of the resignation of
| Mr.. Carothers the membership nem-
bered almost $50, with about 200 of
! these resident within the community.
Through this long period Mr.. Ca
rothers has been faithful and cOnse-
Grated to the cause Of his Master.
In his humble and unassuming man
ner he has made himself a friend of
Grenada, he has wrought himself in
to the life of it's citizenship until to-
day as he walks the streets speaking
to many who to him are unknown,
he is hOnored as the friend and ben
efactor of the community. Charac-
teristic of his life and preaching are
the texts he used in his preaching on
various special occasions in his min
istry. The last sermon in the old
church, which had been the center
of the work of his more active years,
as well as the sacred house of worship
f@,, fHn c.. CO ~n hn
used Acts 28:15 "When Paul saw he
thanked God and took courage" The
first sermon in the present church
building was founded upon | Samuel
1872 Hitherto hath the Lord helped
u.s.. His seventy-fourth birthday fell
on the Sabbath, and that morning he
chose, as his text Philippians 1921,
For to me to live is Christ and to
die is gain" His last sermon, which
was preached on the morning of
April 14th, 1918 his text was taken
from Gal. 2:2O, 81 have been cruel
fed with Christ; it is 10 longer |
that live, but Christ liveth in me; and
that life which | now live in the flesh
l live by faith, the faith which is in
the Son of God, who loved me and
gave himself up for me-" To speak
of his influence upon the life of the
church, without the mention of his
wife and family would be to give par
tial credit, for throughout this long
period of years his wife, who came
here as a bride a very few months
after his undertaking of the work.
has with undated energy and Opt
mism striven with him TO make the
Church strong and useful. Today his
three children are among the most
active and influential members Of the
Church.
Mr.. Carothers resig1e ed the pas !
torate Of the Church in June 1913
feeling that in justice to his owG
health and the good of his Church
j.. was best to DO so. The congreg9-
ton wa hesitant in accepting the
restoration. until they came to see
that for the sake of his health It
was best. Then in honor to him. ne
was held as pastor-cmeritus which
title he now holds.
The present church edifice was
erected in 1904-O5. The ground was
broken for the beginning Of the
building Aug. 18th, 1904, the last
service in the old building having
been hell on July 3lst, 1891. For
. PIT: al If nearly 4 year the CON
s~rcgat.On woIShipped III the mayors
%ofticn, returning to the handsome new
building June Bird, 1905. An i'm
F"es~ive feature Of tAc first service
in thc new building was the reception
Of a old gentleman. nearing the
c.o2c "f his life. into the membership
81 the Church. The lot in the center
Of which the Church stands is splen-I
didly located, between Green and
Doak streets, facing on Second st.
The style is Gothic, and the con
struction is of white brick. Inside
tie arrangement is modern through
out. \ handsome pipe organ, which
was bought with the assistance of the
late Andrew Carnegie, is an asset
TO the attractiveneSS ard effective
ness OF the services.
The passionate Of this Church has
recently been assumed by Rev. J. R.
Cunningham, who began his work
here the first of Sept. (l919). Mr.
Cunningham is a native MissCurian.
Finishing his college work in that
state. IN 1914 he entered the Pres
bytar;aa Theological Seminary in the
fall OF hat year and took the de
gree OF Bachelor of Divinity there in
1917. For the following eighteen
he was engaged in religious
work among the soldiers in Camp
8 e. Leayinp the Camp