Lilly's Chapel Free Will Baptist Church

Lilly's Chapel Freewill Baptist Church is located at 4302 Baxter Road about two miles south of Baxter in Putnam County. Currently, the pastor of Lilly's Chapel is Tommy Benson, and the church has a deacon named Ron Whitefield. Sunday morning worship services are held at 10:45 AM, preceded by Sunday School at 9:45. Sunday night services are at 6 PM, and Wednesday nights the church gathers at 7.
==Church History==
Sometime around 1936, Brother Josh Hickey began holding monthly worship services in the Ensor School building. After a few years, the worshippers organized a Free Will Baptist church.
===Charter Members===
*Claude Hickey
*Alfred Maxwell
*David H. Maxwell
*Dolly Maynard
*Stanley Maynard
*Odell Moss
*Ira Nabors
*Leatha Nabors
*Wesley Nabors
*Allie Saylors
*Bethel Saylors
*Willie Whittaker
*Winnie Whittaker
===Construction of Meetinghouse===
Brother Sherman Lilly had led a series of revivals in the neighborhood, and is regarded as the main driver behind the movement to build a house of worship for the church. Lilly asked the congregation "Who's got backbone to build a building?" When nobody spoke up, Lilly addressed Brother Stanley Maynard, saying "Brother Maynard, stand up! You've got backbone." Maynard, Jimmy Lyles, and Jerd Maxwell went out into the community seeking donations.
Harry Vestal Maxwell donated trees to use to construct the seating for the building. Alf Maxwell hauled the logs to nearby Ward's Mill for sawing. Lillard M. Maxwell gathered and hauled rocks to construct the building's foundation. Jerd Maxwell and his wife donated the necessary plot of land.
Construction of the meetinghouse was done by Andrew Burgess, Jim Sewell, and a number of volunteers from the neighborhood. The building was finished in June 1942. At some later point the church was named "Lilly's Chapel" in honor of Brother Sherman Lilly, it is uncertain what the church was called before that.
===A Growing Church===
Around 1948, services increased from once a month to twice a month, on the second and fourth Sundays. A couple of years later, the building was expanded, to increase classroom space. Around 1955, the frame building was bricked, around the same time that worship services started being held every Sunday. More classrooms were added in the early 1960s.
In March 1979, the church decided to employ a full-time pastor for the first time, hiring Frank Russell. In December of that year a parsonage was purchased. 1985 saw the auditorium's seating area expanded to double its original size. In 1987 the church note was paid off, and it was ceremonially burned at the 1988 Old Timer's Day celebration. In 1992, stained glass windows were installed in the sanctuary, paid for by the Willie Whittaker Memorial Fund.
===List of Pastors===
Years 	Pastor
c.1936--1944 	Josh Hickey
1944 	Thomas Moore
1945 	Malcolm Rogers and Carson Whittaker
1946 	Carson Whittaker and E.J. Hickey
1947--1948 	Harvey Garrison
1949--1950 	John L. Barnes
1951 	J.A. McCaleb
1952 	Willie B. Rogers
1953 	Arvil Lee
1954 	J.A. McCaleb
1955--1958 	Herman Hooten
1959--1961 	Earl Langley
1962--1964 	Horace Teague
1965--1967 	Leroy Langley
1968 	Stacy Tollison
1969--1975 	Burdette Randolph
1976-1982 	Frank Russell
1983--1986 	Joe Roysden
1987--1999 	Gary Norton
1999--2002 	Joe Roysden
2003-2004 	Johnny Marshall
2004--present	Tommy Benson
Category:Putnam County Baptists
Category:Baxter