Historical Picture Gallery

Warren was a Church of God (Cleveland, Tenn.) minister who, with his wife Nancy, established the first Church of God congregation in southern Mississippi and the first Pentecostal church in Marion County, Miss. This was at Morgantown in 1915, and the church was officially set in order in August 1916. He also planted churches in Bogalusa, Louisiana. He is buried in the Morgantown Community.

Charter Members

Morgantown Schoolhouse (1915)

This schoolhouse was used to house early services of the Morgantown Church of God until a church building could be constructed in late 1918 or early 1919.

First Church Building (1939 revival photo)

This white frame structure, built in 1918 or 1919, served as the first church building. The land and timber were donated by B.J. Morgan during the pastorate of J.T. and Clara Priest. It served as the setting for many Mississippi Church of God camp meeting and state convention services.

Morgantown Revival (1945)

This building, constructed following a great 9-week revival, was the first brick structure in the Church of God in Mississippi. Reverend William R. Messer served as pastor when it was built in 1945.

R.R. Walker

Trained as a Baptist minister at Mississippi College, Reverend Walker was a local school superintendent and pastor of a nearby church when he was filled with the Holy Spirit and united with the Morgantown Church of God in 1933. This was during a 7-week revival, and Walker became the first minister in the Church of God with an undergraduate degree. In 1934 he became principal of the high school division of the Church of God Bible Training School (now Lee University).

Clara Allison Priest

On May 10, 1909, Clara Allison became the first person in the Church of God in Mississippi to be baptized with the Holy Spirit when she spoke in other tongues during a service at the Stonefield Holiness Tabernacle in Cascilla, Miss. Reverend L.P. Adams, a Church of God pastor from Memphis, Tenn., was conducting the service. When the revival had ended, the congregation called upon Clara to preach, during which service many more individuals were also filled with the Holy Spirit. Clara then began her journey as a Pentecostal preacher, later marrying Reverend James Thomas Priest. They pastored the Morgantown Church from 1917 to 1920 and later served as pastors and state leaders in the Church of God of Prophecy. They retired in Morgantown, and many of their descendents are active members of the Morgantown Church of God.