STONEY POINT LANDMARK MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH, Washington Parish, LA Junction of LA Hwy 10 & LA Hwy 450 Submitted by Bonnie M. Dier, Prepared by Carolyn B. Henderson ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ . Feb. 21, 1910 J. Leon Hennesy sold Stoney Point Landmark Missionary Baptist Church 2.0 acres of land bordering the Tchefuncte River for the amount of $1.00. This land was to be used for a church as long as the church remained there. When the church was organized it was named New Bethany Landmark Missionary Baptist Church. At one time the church building consisted of only a platform. There are no records as to the construction of a church building. On August 23, 1920, the Brooks Scanlon Company sold 2.0 of land to New Bethany for $20.00. This is the land the present church is constructed on. There is no record of the date of construction on this new site, but apparently a small wood frame building was built soon after the land purchase. The building, brown in color, was to the southwest of the present building and faced west toward Highway 450. On April 7, 1924, the church voted to change the name of the church from New Bethany to Stoney Point Landmark Missionary Baptist Church. In October 1939, the church voted to give Elder B. R. SMith, the pastor at that time, the authority to appoint a Building Committee. This next building was apparently constructed near the end of 1939, or early 1940. This was a wood frame building with white siding, located west of the present building and facing Highway 10. On April 6, 1950, and again on July 6, 1961, Ila Hennesey donated 1/2 acre of land for a total of one acre to enlarge the church cemetary. The Lord richly blessed as the church membership increased and the community prospered. The church members saw the need to construct a larger building. In the spring of 1958, the present building was constructed. This building was of red brickcrete, consisting of a porch, auditorium, five Sunday School rooms and two bathrooms. On May 30, 1976, First State Bank donated 1/2 acre of land bordering the banks of the Tchefuncte River to the church, thus assuring the church of a place for Baptismal Services. This gave the church a total of 3 1/2 acres of land. The building constructed in 1958 served our church communities' needs for many years. Some remodeling, including the addition of a large steeple, a large Sunday School room, a foyer and two additional bathrooms, was accomplished through the following years. Landscaping was improved over the years. The in 1986, a major remodeling project was begun. There was a need for more auditorium space, another Sunday School room and additional storage area. The building was reroofed, new bricks were layed, the auditorium received new carpeting and new pews. New Lighting and stained glass windows were among the new features of the building. Today you see the results of this remodeling project carried out and completed with God's blessings. We at Stoney Point are very grateful that the Lord has blessed us to construct a building for His honor and glory, a building that we can all be proud of for Christ's sake. Yes, from its meager beginnings in 1910 up until this time, 1987, the Lord has richly blessed our church with 77 years of continued growth. He has blessed our church and community to grow and prosper. He has blessed us to be able to build materially and grow spiritually. He has continued to add saved souls to our church membership. He has blessed us with many good pastors as shepherds over the flock. But the greatest blessing of all is the many lost souls that have been saved during those 77 years; souls that may not have been saved if the Lord had not blessed us by placing His true church in our midst. In Psalms 67:1 we read, "God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause His face to shine upon us." That is the prayer of the Stoney Point Landmark Missionary Baptist Church members today as we dedicate this building for His service and to His honor and glory. We close these pages of history with this scripture from Ephesians 3:21, "Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." Following is a list of ministers known to have been pastors of our church: DATES PASTORS April 1911 - May 1913 M. C. Corkern 1913 - 1914 Fleet Strickland 1915 W. D. Cox 1916 - September 1918 T. E. Bennett September 1918 - 1921 E. W. Hope 1922 and 1923 C. T. Corkern 1923 I. E. Corkern 1924 J. R. Burch 1925 - March 1928 J. M. Stuart April 1928 - 1929 F. McAdams 1930 J. M. Brown 1931 J. M. Stuart 1932 F. D. Adams 1932 - 1935 J. M. Stuart 1936 - 1937 D. R. Stuart 1938 - 1940 B. R. Smith August 1940 - January 1946 G. H. Byrd May 1947 - January 1948 C. W. Thigpen January 1948 - September 1050 J. B. Stonecypher September 1950 - August 1953 Houston Rawls August 1953 - July 1963 Royce McBeth July 1963 - February 1974 B. M. Lowery February 1974 James Broome