The Pee Dee Presbyterian Church held The Sunday Worship of Almighty God on November 19 at 3:00 p.m. with the Reverend Dr. Eugen Bach as the presiding pastor.
The musical prelude was by Mrs. Evelyn Carmichael.
After the Call To Worship, hymn #213, “Crown Him With Many Crowns” was sung by those who were present for the special service.
A brief history of the Pee Dee Presbyterian Church was given by Mrs. Christine Carmichael.
Mr. Robert Glenn presented a Special Remembrance of Acenath Herring.
Special music followed by Mrs. Evelyn Carmichael.
The offering was taken followed by the Doxology and the Prayer of Dedication.
Scripture reading was from Matthew 16:13-20.
The Reverend Dr. Eugen Bach’s sermon was “On Earth As it Is In heavine”.
The Affirmation of Faith was recited from Chapter 16 of the “Scots Confession of 1560”.
The final hymn of the day was #437, “The Church’s One Foundation.
The benediction followed.
A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
The early members of Little Pee Dee Presbyterian Church were settlers from Scotland who built their homes along the Little Pee Dee River near Dillon. These Scottish Presbyterians attended services at Ashpole Presbyterian Church near Rowland, NC, but the considerable distance and the poor condition of roads caused their travel to be very difficult. This was especially true during winter months. These early Presbyterian settlers often met in the home of Alexander Campbell. With more settlers arriving and families enlarging, the group grew in numbers. Rev. Duncan McIntyre, a native of Scotland, was the minister of Ashpole Presbyterian Church in late 1828 under Fayetteville Presbytery in North Carolina. There were about 50 charter members.
Some of the services were preached in Gaelic in a log church about one mile east of Campbell’s Bridge. That building is no longer in existence. The new building that replaced it was completed in 1851 on property donated by Mrs. Neil (Christian) Carmichael and her family. Individual families built the pews for the wooden frame Gothic Revival sanctuary. Each family also had a certain tree to hitch their horse and buggy. At that time, the church had two doors. The men would ender through the door on the left and sit on the left side. The women and children entered and sat on the right. The pulpit was between the two doors.
The church building was renovated around 1905. The front of the church was remodeled by changing the two doors into windows, and one double door was installed between them. A new area was added to the back of the church for the new pulpit that was built by Mr. Dan Dillon, son of the founder of Dillon County. Therefore, the sanctuary became reversed. New clapboards were added at that time. The same building, pews, and pulpit are still used for services.
Little Pee Dee Church was very active and continued to grow from 1828. The earliest record are believed lost, but church records are fairly complete from 1840 when Little Pee Dee was transferred from Fayetteville Presbytery in NC to Harmony Presbytery in South Carolina. Little Pee Dee Church was received into the new Pee Dee Presbytery at its organizational session, which was held in Darlington, SC on December 4, 1889. “Little” was dropped from the church’s name about that time to avoid confusion with another church.
Pee Dee Presbyterian Church is the oldest Presbyterian Church in Dillon County and the second oldest Presbyterian Church established east of the Big Pee Dee River. It is the second oldest church in Dillon County and many of its former members have been among the charter members of Marion, Kentyre, Latta, Fork, Dillon, and Dunbarton Presbyterian Churches. The Dillon County Historical Society presented a SC Historical Marker to Pee Dee Church. It was unveiled during an afternoon service at the church on April 13, 1986 and stands in front of the church.
Following the reunion of the Presbyterian Church US and the United Presbyterian Church USA in 1983, Pee Dee Presbytery was renamed as New Harmony Presbytery until November 23, 2003 when the church was dissolved due to declining membership.
The property was placed into a trust and trustees were appointed who are responsible for the maintenance of the building and the two cemeteries. Memorial services are held frequently where we celebrate our Scottish Heritage.
PHOTO GALLERY
PHOTOS BY JOHNNIE DANIELS/THE DILLON HERALD
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