Choose our history from the list below...
The Congregation
The Building
The
Carpet
The Windows
The Sanctuary Cross
The Sanctuary Pipe Organ
The Tower Bells
The Bellwood Bell
The First Presbyterian Church of Lebanon, Tennessee, was founded in 1829 as a Cumberland Presbyterian Church. The first pastor was George Donnell and initially the congregation consisted of seven women. The growing congregation met in the Methodist Church building at first, then worshipped in the courthouse for a Sunday or two before erecting a building for joint use with the Masonic Lodge. In 1831, a new church building was finished.
Under Donnell’s leadership, the Lebanon church grew, gaining many of the best citizens of Lebanon. It became very influential in the denomination. “It was during Donnell’s pastorate, and largely by his influence and that of the men who were associated with him, that Cumberland University, by order of the General Assembly, was located in Lebanon.” (Nathan Green)
After George Donnell’s death in 1845, there was a succession of pastors, including David Lowry, Robert Donnell, J.W. Poindexter, Richard Beard, W.H. Darnall, J.W. Fitzgerald, and J.M. Hubbert. At the turn of the century, E.E. Morris became pastor.
“The movement for the (re) union of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. was begun in the year 1903 and continued until 1906, at which time the majority report of the committee to canvass the Presbyteries of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church stated that 60 out of 114 Presbyteries had voted in favor of the union and 51 had disapproved it. Following the passage of appropriate resolutions by the respective General Assemblies, the union was declared to have been effective and the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church adjourned forever. However, a group of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church declined to adjourn and denied the validity of the union. As a result, there was division in many of the congregations of the former Cumberland Presbyterian Church, one group declaring the validity of the union and yielded its allegiance to the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.”
“This division existed in the Presbyterian congregation at Lebanon and each division or group asserted its claim to the Church building and property located on North Cumberland Street (and Market Street).” (Haden Trigg and Sam Gilreath).
When the smoke cleared, the minority group of 30 people were allowed to keep the church building and property and the majority group of around 200 people began meeting in Caruthers Hall (across West Main Street from the present sanctuary). Dr. S.A. Coile was chosen as pastor of the Presbyterians in 1907 and led those loyal to the reunion in the building of the present sanctuary, which was dedicated in 1911. Pastors who followed include J.W. Caldwell, David McQuilkin Harrison (twice), Harry J. Bray, L.T. Lawrence, Harold B. Howard, William G. Walker, James Martin, Ray Dykes, James Choomack, and Philip West. The historic reunion of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.) and the United Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) occurred in 1983 forming one church again. The division had occurred during the Civil War of the United States of America.
In 1960, the congregation added an education building, offices and a chapel to the main building. Several adjoining tracts of land have been added with the ‘Roberts’ property and the ‘Dinges’ property. The Bellwood bell from the Bellwood Presbyterian Church was given to this church when theBellwood Church disbanded and several of its members joined First Presbyterian Church, Lebanon. A structure was erected to house the bell on the West Main Street property in 1993 in memory of Graydon Flippen and Mora Purnell.
First Presbyterian Church is the oldest church building in Lebanon still being used for religious services. The building was authorized by the elders and trustees in 1909, and a lot obtained on the corner of South Greenwood Street and West Main Street. Ground was broken in April of 1910 and a cornerstone laid. The contractor was the Lebanon Manufacturing Co., whose bid of $19,000 was the lowest and best.
The Akron Plan was suggested by architects and was used. This structural plan was very popular in the United States from 1885 to 1925, and many other churches in the USA have the typical corner tower and diagonal seating in the sanctuary, with moving partitions giving maximum space for educational classrooms. At one time, the First Presbyterian Church building had the largest seating capacity of any sanctuary in Lebanon, because of this multi-purpose arrangement.
An unusual feature of the sanctuary is the carpet. The present carpet was laid in 1956, which is a duplicate in color and pattern of the original carpet bought in 1911. The educational building and chapel were added in 1960, attempting to match as closely as possible the exterior of the original building.
An outstanding feature of the sanctuary is the stained glass. These windows are of Tiffany design; the glass was bought from the Chicago Art Glass Co., a Tiffany agent. Click Here to view our stained glass photo gallery
The cross, located in the sanctuary, is an original piece of art by Bill Heaton, one of America’s foremost artists. Heaton worked in metals. He devised a new method of fashioning wall sculptures in a spectrum of hues. He would take a large sheet of copper, brass, or aluminum and place on it hand cut pieces of gold, silver, brass, steel, or lead. These were then heated from underneath with a blowtorch, then Heaton would paint the work with a combination of chemicals to make a mural. The result was a shimmering surface of blues, greens, and reds.
Mrs. William Regen of Lebanon saw some of Heaton’s work and commissioned a cross for the sanctuary of the First Presbyterian Church. This work is called “I am the vine,” from Jesus’ words in the gospel of John 15. Look closely at the cross and you will see the intricate pattern of vines woven among each other. The cross is considered to be one of the most valuable pieces of art in the community. This piece was given to First Presbyterian Church in 1965.
The pipe organ was designed by W.P. Bradberry, a Tennessean working for M.P. Moller Organ Company of Maryland, in 1955. This massive instrument was hand built, as are all pipe organs. The hundreds of reeds inside the swell chambers, or rooms, of the pipe organ vary in size from a couple of inches to 16 feet long.
Bradberry also built nooks and crannies, ladders and crawl spaces inside the massive chambers behind the grand decorative pipes. An organ tuner must have access to the pipes and reeds to tune the instrument twice a year, so the ladders and crawl spaces are essential to the maintenance of the organ. The pipes you see from the sanctuary are actually silent pipes from a previous organ. The real pipes are behind the decorative ones.
The rich sound quality of a pipe organ is unmatched, being considered a beautiful mellow tone. The organ consists of a number of stops, rows, and series of pipes, which , working together simulate an orchestral sound. Because of the delayed reaction of the time required for the air to flow through the pipes, the organist uses a different technique to play this particular instrument.
Due to the moisture and temperature – sensitivity of this instrument, great caution must be taken to protect the chambers from dust and humidity. Dehumidifiers are kept running during the summer months in both chambers. A compressor, tucked away in an empty coal bin in the basement of the church, pumps air through the bellows and up through the massive pipes. The pipe organ’s volume level is controlled by the opening and closing of louvered doors facing the congregation, but which are concealed behind the decorative pipes.
Inside the top room in the bell tower are 25 bronze church bells. All of the bells are from the Royal Eijbouts Foundry in Asten, Holland. The company was started in 1872 by a man named Bonaventura Eijbouts who was a trained watchmaker. He began a small shop and started making tower clocks. His ensuing success resulted in the establishment of a larger shop in 1905. His 15 year old son, Johan joined him in 1893, and despite his young age, he introduced striking and swinging bells to the family product line. The company slowly developed worldwide fame.
The first three Royal Eijbouts bells were installed in the church bell tower in 1982, given as memorials to Harriet J. Gaston, Walter J. Baird, Miss Glenn Carter, Mildred McDaniel Cooper, J. Richmond Hargis, Charles J. Osborn, C.V. Baker, Mary Williamson Stokes, Walter H. Thaxton, and Mr. and Mrs. Curry Vaughan. The other twenty-two bells were donated to the church by Judge Rodney V. Ahles in memory of his wife, Imogene Ahles. The smallest bell weighs about 75 pounds, and the largest weighs approximately 950 pounds. The bells provide two octaves, allowing songs to be played with ease and fluidity. The bells are operated by computer. Songs are programmed from a computer diskette, similar to diskettes used in ordinary computers. The church currently has well over 25 songs available on diskette, many of which are seasonal. The bells chime the hour and half-hour between 8am and 8pm Monday through Saturday. A mini concert consisting of three songs is played at noon and 6 pm. On Sunday, there is a call to worship which tolls at five minutes before each service.
On the western side of the church yard, you can see a church bell displayed from an antecedent Presbyterian Church---The Bellwood Presbyterian Church Bell. Bellwood Presbyterian Church was located in the Bellwood neighborhood near Carthage. The church was organized chiefly by members of the Goshen Cumberland Presbyterian Church after the Union of 1906. It was an active rural church in the area East of Lebanon. After 1960, the pastor of First Presbyterian Church Lebanon served as pastor of the Bellwood church until it was disbanded and many of its members came to First Presbyterian Church.
