Elon stands with twin white towers and columned portico shaded by giant trees. The interior looks like a jewel box with its beautiful stained-glass windows and gold carpeting. Last October the church celebrated its 150th anniversary and on the big day Donald Baldwin pulled the bell’s rope 150 times to summon worshippers. Raymond Dickerson, a member since age 12, greeted visitors and noted that it is “funny how you go to church and people have a certain place they like to sit.” The old church was packed for the anniversary service and folding chairs lined the aisles so some of the regulars might have had to give up their usual seats.
Fred Anderson
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Most of the children who grew up in Elon Baptist Church at Pamplin in Appomattox County, Va., learned those proverbial four R’s — readin’, ’riting, ’rithmetic and the Road to Richmond. The church has about 235 resident members and almost another 100 who must have taken the road to elsewhere. Many returned for the anniversary. After the service the crowd enjoyed a bountiful meal in the church’s attractive fellowship hall. There was country ham, fried chicken, salads and fresh vegetables and at least one jar of homemade watermelon rind preserves. It was an old-fashioned homecoming meal.
The churches of Pamplin seem to be the only places with noticeable activity in the community whether on a Sabbath or any other day of the week. Oh, there may be a few souls in and out of the post office or the convenience store; but the old stores facing the railroad tracks are abandoned with windows either busted or boarded. The residents must travel along 460 either to Farmville or to Appomattox or even the Road to Richmond for serious shopping.
Mary Rives Black, a resident of Lakewood Manor in Richmond and the daughter of a former Elon pastor, William Madison Black, has warm memories of Pamplin. “There were three denominations,” remembers Mary Rives, “and each church in the village was a member of a field of churches. On Sundays that the Baptists had worship service, the congregations from the Methodist and Presbyterian churches worshiped in the Baptist church because their pastors were out at one of the other churches on the field.” The Baptists also worshipped at the other two churches on the days when their pastor was away at the other churches on the field. “This schedule was followed for Sunday evenings and for Wednesday night prayer meetings. I don’t know how this schedule came into being, but it worked like clockwork.”
“The first Sunday in April 1931, was Easter Sunday, Communion Sunday, and my father’s first sermon as the new pastor. The sanctuary was full because it was Easter and the new pastor was preaching. At the close of the sermon, there was a subtle quiet movement in the congregation and people from different parts of the sanctuary began to leave. My father was perplexed. During the week he talked with some of the Elon members about the strange exodus and was told that former pastors, just before the singing of the last hymn before communion would say, ‘after the singing, communion will be served to all of those of like faith and order,’ which meant it was for those only who had been immersed. My father never used the word of separation at the time of communion but made it for those who believed. Close communions just silently disappeared and all the people stayed. I have often thought that the village of Pamplin was a beautiful expression of ecumenism.”
Elon Baptist Church
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Elon made it possible for Pastor Black to attend the Baptist World Alliance Congress in Atlanta in 1939. When he arrived, there was confusion over where he was to stay. Strangers — a young married couple — invited him to stay in their home. It turned out that they were Methodists who had “given up on church.” The Baptist guest engaged them in friendly conversations that week and the couple began to go back to their church. The Baptist guest from Virginia and his Methodist hosts remained life-long friends.
For a small village church, Elon had a remarkable history of sending forth gospel ministers. James H. Franklin was an illustrious son of Elon. He was born into a family of plain and hard-working folks in Pamplin; and he found Christ in that home as well as in Elon where he was baptized and ordained. As a boy he was fascinated with a decorative certificate tucked in his grandmother’s Bible. It represented her one-dollar contribution toward the Memorial Campaign of 1873 to endow the Baptist school, Richmond College. There was an engraving of a college building on the certificate and the boy early decided that he wanted to attend that school. He entered the college with 75 cents in his pocket.
James H. Franklin became the leader of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society. Following World War I, he toured France on behalf of religious and reconstruction work and was made a member of the Legion of Honor. In 1934 he was elected president of Crozer Seminary, the Northern Baptist school. When he made a return to Pamplin, Elon always had “a packed house” to hear the native son. W.M. Thompson, an Appomattox pastor of yesteryear, once recalled that the people of that area felt that James Franklin “was one of their very own, having gone so far and climbed so high.”
The Harwood boys — Samuel Gladstone and Frank Spurgeon — grew up in Elon and served as pastors of several Virginia churches. Another son of Elon was George Robert Pankey who served several Virginia churches. Yet another son is the well-known and highly-respected F. Lawson Pankey, who served for 25 years in various capacities with the Virginia Baptist Mission Board, retiring in 1990 as director of Sunday school development. His ministry touched the work of almost every BGAV-member church.
When this columnist arrived early on the anniversary Sunday, he happened to meet the “new” pastor while walking toward the church. Josh Tompkins and his young son, Isaiah, were carrying their contributions to the dinner-on-the-grounds and the young minister looked enough like a Baptist minister for me to make the assumption. He came to Southside from Southwest Virginia where he was a member of the First Baptist Church of Pound. He is pursuing a divinity degree at Liberty University. On the anniversary Sunday, Josh Tompkins was shaking hands, greeting those who had returned home and letting people know that there was every reason to come back on another Sunday and hear the new preacher. He wanted the folks to return to Pamplin.
Fred Anderson is executive director of the Virginia Baptist Historical Society and the Center for Baptist Heritage and Studies. He may be contacted at [email protected] or at P.O. Box 34, University of Richmond, VA 23173.