1840-1863     In 1840, William A. Gray organized Old Lebanon Presbyterian Church.  The founding members were  John and Elizabeth Pilcher, of Salem Church, Union County, South Carolina; John and Rebecca Collins;  Archibald and Jane Gordon, of Cane Creek Church, Union County, South Carolina; William and Sarah  Smith, of  Mt. Pleasant Church, Chester County, South Carolina; Melinda Gordon, of Mt. Pleasant Church,  Chester County, South Carolina, and her servant Sarah;  David and Nancy Huffman, of Mayhew,  Mississippi; David and Elizabeth Boyd (who later united with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church,  1852); and William, Nancy, Martha, and Ann McMillin, of Lebanon Church, Fairfield County, South  Carolina.     In 1844, Reverend L. B. Gaston became the pastor.  Reverend Horatio J. Bardwell served as pastor from  May 24, 1845 until his death, June 20, 1853. In September 1846, the church session is noted to have daily  meetings, leading to the beflief that this is the first campmeeting.  M. Peden served as pastor from 1853  until 1863.  In April 1861, the church reported having sixty-eight white members and eight black  members.  The Church continued to meet periodically during the Civil War.   1863-1882     The church records for this period were lost in a home fire. 1883-1899     Dark days fell on Old Lebanon over the next few years.  On April 22, 1883, a tornado destroyed the Old Lebanon Church building.  The church  reported to the Tombigbee Presbytery:  "Our church building was destroyed in the storm last Spring.  The new railroad has come near us and several  depots are located at convenient distance from most of our people.  Some are moving to the road, and on these two accounts we are demoralized to such  an extent as to seriously affect our progress.  Nothing can be done toward building up the church in any sense.  We need new pastorial work and more  persistent effort in organizing and settling the affairs of the church."     From 1883 to 1887, the church had no building but members met periodically at the Weir station, the Bywy school house, and at Chester.  They  reported to the presbytery in 1885:  "We have not been able to do anything toward rebuilding our church, owing to the fact that some of our members  have moved to the railroad and others have gone into new organizations."  The church membership had fallen to seventy-six.       In March 1887, they wrote: "We would wish to state to the Presbytery that we have had no house of our own since the storm of 1883.  Our people are  scattered and have no home.  We are going to make one more effort to rebuild this Fall on our old site and we ask the earnest prayers and hearty  cooperation of the Presbytery in this important work."  The membership had fallen to thirty-seven.       In September 1887, the church reported, "We would report to the Presbytery that we are now rebuilding our church and hope to have it complete by  the second Sabbath in November, at which time we hope to have our Fall communion.  While we have lost three-fourth of our members by death and  removal, yet we hope the Master has great things in store for us."  On Saturday and Sunday, November 12th and 13th, the first sermons were preached in  the new building by Reverends Storey and A. H. Mecklin.       In April 1888, the church reported to the Presbytery, "Our people have been laboring under a heavy burden of rebuilding our church, which with  gratitude to God, we report has been completed and paid for."  The church had thirty-five members.    After the completion of the new building, the  session appointed a committee to obtain a deed to the land on which the spring is located.  Families relied on it for water during the campmeeting  services.  In January 1889, the committee reported that the land between the church and spring including a sufficient margin around the spring could be  bought for $10. The session agreed to accept the price and instructed the committee to procure a deed for the same.  On March 10, 1889, the committee  presented the deed to the land around the spring.  By 1894 the membership of the church had increased to fifty-eight.  1900-PRESENT      On July 8, 1900, John Kilpatrick and J. D. Perkins were appointed to employ counsel and to file suit in the  Chancery Court of Choctaw Country to clear the title to certain land belonging to the church.  In April 1901,  the minutes reflect that the land title problems had been resolved and that a deed would be received to  straighten out the title.      In1921, the ministers' tent was constructed and the church was painted, inside and out, for a total cost of  $71.69. In 1941, a fence was constructed around the cemetery. Funds for this were secured by selling timber  on the church property. By 1954, there was interest in creating a perpetual care cemetery trust fund.  The first  trustees for this fund were elected in 1956.  In 1959, the Sunday School rooms were added to the church.       Before campmeeting in 1964, an electric pump was installed at the spring to provide water to the  campground.  At this time, the wooden box below the spring was replaced with a round concrete tile.  The  electric pump was installed in the tile. In later years, when water lines were run to the campground from the  community water system, the pump was removed. In the late 1960s the wading pool was constructed.     The 1970’s brought many changes to the church. In 1972, Old Lebanon joined the Ackerman Presbyterian Church and the ByWy Presbyterian Church  in building a new manse.  The new brick structure was on North Louisville Street in Ackerman. The three churches then sold their jointly owned wooden  manse on East Church Street. In 1975, a new “preacher’s tent” was built on the campground, and central heat and air conditioning was installed in the  church. In 1976, the cemetery was enlarged. Timber from the east of the cemetery was sold to buy fencing materials. Men from the church provided the  labor in making the enlargement. In 1978 the interior of the church was remodeled and the fellowship hall added. The fellowship hall was made possible  by a donation from Rose Calcote. In the early 1980's, Earlene Moss collected  photos of many of the church pastors and displayed them on the back wall  of the fellowship hall. It contains a photo of the church's first pastor, as well as the photos of three men from Old Lebanon Church that became  Presbyterian ministers.     By 1983, the Presbyterian Church USA formed by the joining of northern and southern Presbyterian churches into one denomination. The new  denomination brought with it rules regarding ownership of property, as well as more liberal views. In 1986, the Old Lebanon congregation held their first  meeting to discuss the possibility of being dismissed from the Presbyterian USA. On February 1, 1987, the church voted unanimously to request  dismissal from the Presbyterian USA denomination.  Old Lebanon then joined the Presbyterian Church of America (PCA).   In 1987, Old Lebanon called Charles Douglas to be the church’s first full time minister. By mid 1989, Old Lebanon had sold it’s part of the manse to the  Ackerman Presbyterian Church.  During this time, the church installed a sound system and received an electric organ as a gift from Sarah and Richard  Briney.       On May 14, 1989, a state historical marker was erected on the campground. Tom Shirley, the marker donor, Judge J. P. Coleman and Dr. Michael  Ballard participated in the marker dedication ceremony.     In the fall of 1995, a mission fund was created.  A commitment was made to provide monthly financial support to the ministry of a couple serving as  missionaries in Latin America..      In February 2001, strong winds passed through a wide path of Choctaw and Oktibbeha counties. Seven large tombstones in the cemetery were  overturned and two large trees at the spring were uprooted. In the spring of 2002 a meditation garden was created with landscaping enhancements at the  spring.  In 2004, church members and some of the campmeeting tenters began having Saturday afternoon event in October.  This evolved into the annual  fall fellowship featured in the photo pages.  In 2013, after damaging winds,  the roof of the church was replaced with a metal roof.    
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