By Dr. Gayle Woods

1. Origin of Kelley’s Chapel

Sometime prior to 1890 the revivalist brand of Holiness penetrated the hills of West Tennessee. At this time two women evangelists in the young Church of God (Holiness) association appeared in Tipton County Tennessee wanting to hold a revival. The Church of God (Holiness) was formed in 1883, therefore this event occurred sometime afterward.

Although the evangelists’ identity has been lost, their works still live on. Under their direction a brush arbor was constructed just south of the Ed Patterson residence near Garland and Burlison Tennessee. Here revival services were conducted. These ladies stayed at Grandpa Kelley’s house while holding the revival.

People from all over the community converged on the location to hear the message of holiness. People from nearby Shiloh Methodist church who were looking for the former emphasis on entire sanctification soon became a part of this new evangelistic effort. Others of the community who were moved upon by God repented of their sins and began to seek the experience of entire sanctification.    

The doctrine of the New Testament Church was also suited for the new adherents. As the lady evangelists traveled on to other challenges the new converts and people who had come from neighboring churches determined that the work must go on. True to the independent spirit of the doctrine the people were to espouse, the autonomous church was set in order without the permission, guidance, or blessing of any ecclesiastical authority. God was their superintendent and the Bible was their manual.

Not having a church in which to worship, the new congregation used what was readily available. Their first location was the old Jim Tom Wood’s house near the original site of the brush arbor. This building had previously been the neighborhood school. After a short stay at this location, however, they began looking for a place to build a church. 　

Mrs. Elnora G. (Berg) Billings owned about 57 acres of land about ½ mile East of the church’s origination. This was inherited from E.G. Berg in 1880. She apparently was a generous and community minded lady. On November 29, 1883 for the price of one dollar she sold about one acre of land to G. T. Evans, M. L. Luttrell, and W.W. Galbreath who were public school directors of District No. 3 in Tipton County. The donation of land was given for the purpose of establishing a new school in the community. The deed to the property reads: But should said school directors fail to erect a school house on said land within two years from the date hereof or should the school be converted to any other than educational purposes or cease to be used for said purpose for the space of two years at any one time then the title to the same to revert to me or any heirs and the acceptance of this deed by said directors shall be conclusive evidence of this agreement to these conditions.

On January 19, 1897 Elnora Billings sold land adjoining the school to the holiness people for ten dollars. The trustees of the church at the time of this transaction were T.W. Wages, M.L. Luttrell, and J.C. Kelley.

Apparently the congregation had been given permission to build a church on the property before a deed was given to them. Mark Luttrell told Mrs. Eunice Larimore that the church was built when he was twelve years old. He was 98 years old when he died in 1980 which would have made the building of the church around the year 1894. The church did not receive a deed to the property on which it stood until January 7, 1897.

When the school and church deeds are compared the inference that the church was built prior to the acquisition of a property deed seems more certain. The new owners of the school property were required to build a school house on the site within two years and to keep the school in operation, otherwise the property would revert to the original owners or their heirs. On the contrary nothing is said in the deed to the church property concerning this type of arrangement. Thus, it can be suggested that a church was already built on the site when the property was sold to the trustees.

The people didn’t know what to name the new church and so they decided to have the two main leaders of the church draw straws. The church would be named for the winners of the draw. John C. Kelley and Mark L. Luttrell drew the straws. John Kelley drew the long straw and the church was thereafter named Kelley’s Chapel .

Two of the teachers of the new school were Miss Cotton and Celestia Kelley. For some undisclosed reason Kelley’s Chapel school quit functioning in 1906. For a number of years following the closing of the school different members of Kelley’s Chapel rented the school house for a place of residence. Annie Ruth Wilson, a daughter of Elnora Billings stated that she and her husband Floyd rented the old school house after first being married for $8.00 a month. It was here that their son Jerry was born.

Years later W. P. Stokes, Holloway Dycus, and Cass Worlds tore down the schoolhouse to build a parsonage close to the old church. The last pastor to live in the old school house was Bro. Robert Reynolds. This would mean that it was torn down around the year 1945. Sometime during the 1950’s the parsonage was moved up to the old school site by rolling it on logs. It was moved because the pastor’s family had very little privacy.

On January 8, 1908 Mrs. Elnora Billings decided to increase the size of the church property. At this time she donated the school property which had reverted to her when the school closed. This property joined the church property on its southern boundary and completed a tract of about two acres.

During the early years of Kelley’s Chapel the church seldom had a regular pastor. Preachers just traveled through and filled the pulpit for a short time. For years Bro. Stokes traveled from Curve, Tennessee to preach at the church every other week or so. His means of transportation varied. Sometimes he would ride the train to Covington and then walk the rest of the way. Other times he would ride a horse. Some times Cap Joy would meet him in Covington and give him a ride to the church. The only way the church could afford to pay him was to give him eggs and produce.

On the Sundays Bro. Stokes was absent, the church continued to minister by having Sunday School. On Sundays when Bro. Stokes did not come there would be no service in the morning and Sunday School in the afternoon. Since this Sunday School was held in the afternoon, people from other churches often came to Kelley’s Chapel for Sunday School. Two prayer meetings were also held during the week. One was on Thursday night and the other was on Saturday night.

Sometime later, the revivalist desire of the holiness people caused them to make plans to build a “Camp Meeting Shed.” This effort was nothing new for the area for Samuel Cole Williams in Beginnings in West Tennessee says, “The inhabitants of early West Tennessee brought with them that mode of worship in the woods known as the camp meeting, a product of the great revival of religion that had swept the Central South and had not yet abated. Camp grounds, usually Methodist or Cumberland Presbyterian, dotted the entire region.” p. 195

Along with this open air, dirt floor structure, a cook shed and several cabins were built. Thus the long history of what is known as the Mid South Camp began.

Even though the camp was owned and operated by Kelley’s Chapel it became a community affair. People from many denominations participated in the camp and all the churches reaped the benefits.

The farmers worked hard so that they could lay their crops by before the camp began. Because of their generosity the camp had meat, peas, corn and other vegetables to put on the table.

This desire to evangelize the world and to propagate the message of entire sanctification and the New Testament Church doctrine was strong. A measure of success was realized in this effort which fanned the blaze of evangelistic zeal. Mrs. Leola Mitchell a long standing but now deceased member told me that crowds ranging from three to five hundred people would travel from Arkansas, the Boot Heal of Missouri, Mississippi, and West Tennessee to enjoy the services. Before the days of the automobile’s popularity the grounds would be literally covered with wagons, buggies, and horses.

Besides having good crowds, many people were converted during these services. Holloway Dycus stated that in 1936 C. E. Cowen a 23 year old camp evangelist saw one hundred people converted during the Mid-South Camp.

Around 1954 the Camp was moved to Curve, Tennessee for a few years. It then came back to Kelley’s Chapel where it still remains.

When the new church was built in 1939-1940, the Camp was moved inside. In 1964 a basement was dug under the new church to provide a nicer kitchen and dining hall.

Bro. Earl Starnes was the pastor who built the simple but larger structure. In the years to follow, a covered porch was to be added on the front of the building, a Sunday School wing was to be added to the side.

Other additions and improvements include a bell which was found on a plantation in Mississippi. The bell was brought to Kelley’s Chapel where it was mounted on top of a bell pole structure. Inside the sanctuary a rich red carpet, beautiful stained glass windows, and red velvet padding on the curved oak pews are all additions adding to the beauty of the church.

Central air conditioning helps the members forget the days of worshipping on straw strewn floors and the almost unbearable sultry heat trapped under the old shed. The modern Sunday School rooms double as bedrooms during Camp Meeting and help the people forget the days when the old church was partitioned into many small cubical bedrooms with bed sheets hanging from the ceiling.

The construction of a new church meant a departure from the past in many regards. Since the little church and the shed were both disassembled so that the lumber could be used again in the new church, most of the reminders of the past are gone. Loving memories are still revived, however, as the members look at the pictures in the display case of the new church. The huge old oak tree standing in the church yard is also a monument to the great days of the past. It was then only a small tree located directly in front of the little old church with only a wagon’s width separating the two.

Today the Camp Meeting effort continues. Planning and financial preparation are activities of interest throughout the year. The desire to convert the unsaved and lead believers into the experience of entire sanctification is a paramount concern.

Revival efforts are still an important aspect of the evangelistic enterprise as well. Although all meetings don’t boast of success, the April 7-17, 1988 meeting was the means by which eleven were converted, five were entirely sanctified, five were anointed for healing of their body or deliverance from a harmful habit, and numerous other ones received spiritual help. The whole church was vibrant with the excitement of revival as God settled in upon each service.

Several of the people who presently attend Kelley’s Chapel have told me about some of the things that happened in and around Kelley’s Chapel. Although some of the following accounts did not happen during a church service, they happened to the people attending the church at the time.

I am convinced that if I tried to write every story that I have heard they would have to be bound and sold as a book. Since I can’t give space to all of the interesting stories I have heard about Kelley’s Chapel, I have been forced to select a few which hopefully will give an idea of what life was like during the earlier days at the Chapel.

A familiar story at the church involved Will Billings. Bro. Stokes was preaching one day in his demonstrative way. He used to jump on the platform of the church so hard that the dust would fly. The people watching thought sure a board was going to break one day soon. When he would get happy he would say “I think I hear the stirring of the Mulberry trees.” He would also jump above the height of the pulpit while holding on to its edge. At any rate this particular day his subject involved Peter, James, and John. It appears that he had forgotten about the time in his zeal to deliver his message. He finally came to his third point, however, and said, “Well here is Peter and James, but what are we going to do with John?” Will Billings stirred in his seat and then rose to his feet. In a clear voice he said, “He can have my seat ‘cause I’m going home.”

In addition to many of the early preachers being longwinded , a favorite topic used to be about the end time. For example, Arthur Max tells about the day when Orson Welles’ “The War of the World’s” was played on the radio. People were so afraid that they came running to the church prayer meeting yelling, “The world’s coming to an end… The world’s coming to an end!”. One particular time Holloway Dycus was scared after hearing this type of preaching so he studied and studied to try to figure out what he should do if the world did soon come to an end. He finally decided that he would go hide under the family’s big black wash pot. As a little girl Annie Ruth Wilson also knew that she wouldn’t go to heaven if the end came soon. During church she often went to sleep while the preacher preached about the end time and the need to be saved. Her sleep was not pleasant, however, for it was filled with bad dreams. Soon her bad dreams always came to an abrupt end as she sprang up from her seat and began to run around the church. Her mother chased right behind her trying to calm her down.

During the depression years the church people had to scramble to make a living. It was during this time that Holloway Dycus and a friend hit on the idea of going into the ice business. Everybody around needed ice for their ice box so it seemed to be a sure success. His friend had a truck and so he bargained to buy the ice if his friend would supply the truck. The first day in business they began to make their rounds to sell ice. All was going well on this hot summer day until the truck stalled on the side of Mt. Lebannon. No matter what they tried they couldn’t get the truck to start. Before their eyes the business melted and ran down the hill. Finally Holloway turned to walk away and told his friend, “Well you can have my part of the business.” This business possibly holds the record for being the shortest lived business in Tennessee.

Esten and Esther Miller served as pastors around the years 1938-1939. The church was so poor at this time that they couldn’t afford to pay them so the Millers raised a garden, pigs and other things to try to get by. On one particular occasion Ed and Eunice Larimore were invited to eat at the Miller residence. All that they had for supper was soup and crackers. It was supposed to be chicken soup but it looked like the chicken got up and flew away. Ed and Eunice came home feeling like they were going to starve to death.

Someone has said that you can always tell if you are in church by two things: first, there are always announcements, and second, there is always an offering. After the offering plate had been passed on one particular occasion at Kelley’s Chapel Jessie Carroll said, “I can’t believe it! They passed the plate around three times and I didn’t even take a nickel.” In the depression years, however, an offering was not taken. Instead a paper sack was put in the aisle by the door and people could put in it whatever they had to give as they passed by. The preacher got all the proceeds. He felt fortunate when he got as much as $3.00.

Something else that is peculiar to church people anywhere is that they seem to always want to sit in the same place every service. Nora Fleming was one who had claimed her territory and didn’t want anyone else to sit in her place. It was at the fourth pew from the front on the right side of the church next to the window. Holloway Dycus recounts that he teased her once by trying to sit on her lap. She still wouldn’t move. He accepted the challenge. Sometime later he took some of the young children of the church aside and offered to buy them a coke if they’d sit in her seat the next service. They got the coke.

Mildred Luttrell tells about coming to Camp meeting with her parents and grandparents. A bushel or two of potatoes and a chicken were often put in the buggy to bring for the Camp dinner. During one of the first services she remembers attending the people started to shout. They shouted so loud and long that the women shouted their hair down. Another time testimony service was in progress the adults testified first. When they were finished, the leader said, “Now we will let the children testify.” A little girl got to her feet and said, “I’m saved, sanctified, and backslid.” Mai Atkins reminds us of a more victorious testimony given many times by Grandpa Rice. He would always testify, “I’m O-double-L for the Lord!”

Coming to camp took effort and determination. Some of the people came to the grounds to stay for the duration of the camp. They resided in the cabins or the church which was temporarily divided into bedrooms. If there was no room available others would put up tents on the camp ground. The ones who lived close to the church walked or rode in wagons to the service.

Some times coming to camp took courage. Albert Kelley tells the story of his wife’s ride home from the service one evening. The wagon they were riding in had a hay frame on it. The people sat on the frame with their feet in the wagon. As they traveled home it began to rain hard. Knowing that they would be thoroughly soaked if they didn’t do something quickly, they did their best to cover the top of the frame with blankets. Starting across the bridge at the creek just east of the church they met a car. Evidently the lights from the car blinded the two mules who were pulling the wagon. The mule on the left walked off the bridge and was quickly followed by the other mule and the wagon. People spilled out of the wagon like groceries out of a torn sack. Fortunately, the wheels on the right side of the wagon caught on the edge of the bridge so that the people in the water were spared injury from the falling wagon. Even thought the water was about ten feet deep at this place none of the people were hurt.

A pastor who served Kelley’s Chapel, for a short time before becoming a missionary to Bolivia was Bro. Rodman. He was a wiry, energetic, mischievous young man. He was concerned about Holloway Dycus who was not yet a Christian. For this reason he spent extra time with him. One of their adventures took them to Changley Lake. After a time of fishing Bro. Rodman pointed out a log in the water and said, “Dycus what do you think about that log?”. Holloway answered, “I don’t know.” At that Bro. Rodman got to his feet and jumped off onto the log. It took off like a startled horse throwing Bro. Rodman into the water. After Bro. Rodman had gone to Bolivia he wrote Holloway and in the letter referred to the incident by saying, “Holloway, use your own judgment!”

During Bro. Rodman’s pastorate, Holloway Dycus got pneumonia. That winter 11” of snow fell. The snow and ice stayed on for weeks. Bro. Rodman offered to take Holloway to the doctor in Memphis, but Holloway had seen Bro. Rodman’s tires. The car was not fit to ride in and you could see the inner tube through the worn places in the tires. The pastor insisted that Holloway needed to go to the doctor, and that he would take him. Finally Holloway consented on condition. In order for him to ride in Bro. Rodman’s car, first Bro. Rodman had to take the tires off Holloway’s car and put them on his own.

When Bro. Rodman left, Bro. and Sis. Ball came to co-pastor Kelley’s Chapel. Some say that she was a better than he was. Be that as it may, when he would preach she went to the pulpit with him to read the text. She would read a few verses and then he would preach awhile. When he was ready for more of the text to be read he would say, “Read!” She would read. He would again begin to preach until it came time to call for more reading of the text.

Politics is always a warm subject even around church. The south has been traditionally Democrat for years. During the elections of 1982 the pastor, Gayle Woods, was visiting Arthur Max. After discussing the political situation that had captured the interest of the people at that time Arthur looked at the new pastor with set face and determined eye. He said, “ Preacher, are you a Republican or a Democrat?” Bro. Woods didn’t hesitate as he answered, “I’m a Christian.” Arthur fell back against his chair laughing. “That’s good, he’s not a Democrat or a Republican…he’s a Christian!”

Bro. Woods was later out visiting in the neighborhood. He visited a new family to the community who had rented the old Kelley house. After visiting with them for a time he invited them to come to church at Kelley’s Chapel. “I don’t know,” they hesitantly replied, “we’ve heard that they handle snakes down at that church!”

Although the church has never had any snakes in the services, I am told that Will Billings had some turkeys which got in the church one night and chose to roost on the back of the pews. Someone told Mr. Billings about his turkeys getting in the church and he responded, “Well, I guess there’s not need in me going to church, my turkeys can go for me.”

There have been days of defeat and days of victory at Kelley’s Chapel. Sometimes it has almost seemed that the people of the community would rather send their turkeys than come themselves. It was during one of these discouraging times when Bro. Woods stepped out of his study to hear his wife and boys excitedly call, “Look up there Gayle!” He hurried to where they were standing in the yard and looked up into the sky to see a beautiful rainbow of God’s promise. One leg of the rainbow was on one side of the church and the other leg of the rainbow was on the other side of the church. It seemed as if God was giving him a special word of encouragement. Things WERE going to be all right. The church WAS going to prosper. God WOULD be glorified as people continued to get saved, sanctified, and helped spiritually at Kelley’s Chapel.