LEXINGTON CHURCH OF CHRIST

"Strengthening the ties that bind"

History of the Church in Lexington

According to Acts 2, the New Testament Church was started on the Day of Pentecost. Peter and the Apostles were the preachers on this day. Acts 2:41 says there were about 3,000 people baptized and were added to the church on that day.

The Lexington Church of Christ strives to follow that pattern of worship today. The present congregation in Lexington began meeting with a weeknight service in the Piedmont Funeral Home Chapel on South Main Street. The number of people in attendance is unknown. The bible class was conducted by Brother James G. Binkley, the preacher from Salisbury and Brother Cecil Pinkston lead the singing. The year was around 1948 or 1949. Soon after this initial bible study, regular services were conducted on Sunday afternoons and a night during the week. These services were conducted by the Ernest Shoaf family from Salisbury .

Around 1955, Bill Williams, an employee of Belks, began conducting the worship services in his home. As attendance grew, they met in a room at a local funeral home. Paul Sykes from Salisbury assisted with teach and preaching. Later they rented a house on Fairview Drive . Preachers Howard Johnson and Robert Petrie from High Point conducted services. Jimmy Stutts coordinated much of the services and preached his first sermon and later became a gospel preacher.

About 1959 or '60, Jack Bailey from Winston-Salem preached and property was purchased on the corner of Oak Avenue and Peeler Street and a cinder block building was used for the services and the wood frame house became the preacher's home. Financial needs were aided by area congregations such as South Fork and South Main Churches of Christ in Winston-Salem , Warner's Chapel in Clemmons and North Main Street in Mocksville. The first full-time minister, Clayton Winters, was hired followed by Walter Neal and Floyd Gentle. The Church continued to meet in that location until 1967. With a membership of about 50 they moved to a site on Robert Everhart Road just off Highway 29-70 North. With the moving of the Gentle family, Jerry Richardson became a part-time minister for the congregation.

In 1969 Adrian Maynard from Kannapolis began preaching for the church. He, along with Danny Davis began sign language interpretation for the deaf. Following Maynard, Edmond Hicks worked with the congregation from 1972-76. Scott Hurston worked with the Church from 1976 until 1981. Following Hurston were Clifford Shaver, 1981-88; Chuck Fetters, 1988-96; Bill Williams, 6 months; Craig Hallman, 1996-2001; Roy Markham, 2001-02. Jeff Kelley, the present minister began in 2003.

The Church is presently self-supporting and moved to its new building at 1330 Piedmont Drive on Sunday, April 27, 1997. Open house was held on June 22, 1997 , and was attended by 187. It has an average attendance of 120 and is a growing congregation.