{"id":3886,"date":"2019-05-25T00:38:56","date_gmt":"2019-05-25T00:38:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/smithfieldchurchofgod.com\/?page_id=3886"},"modified":"2026-10-03T20:05:56","modified_gmt":"2026-10-03T20:05:56","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/smithfieldchurchofgod.com\/index.php\/about\/","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"

Smithfield Church of God\u00a0<\/em>had its humble beginnings in the homes of people having prayer meetings around Burlington Cotton Mill on North Street in the early 1900\u2019s. Leonard Parnell (Mae Hall\u2019s father) built a brush arbor to be used as a church across the railroad tracks behind Burlington Mills.\u00a0In 1931\u00a0Rev. William Pollard\u00a0<\/em>preached a Revival\u00a0that lasted several weeks and many people were saved.\u00a0\u00a0He stayed on as Pastor of the church.\u00a0\u00a01932, the Smithfield Church of God was organized.<\/p>\n

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Until the mid 1940\u2019s the church had part time Pastors until\u00a0Rev. Willie Crowder<\/em>became the Pastor.\u00a0\u00a0Around 1948, they moved the church from the bush arbor to the Mill Village on Hancock Street.\u00a0\u00a0There was a little white church on Hancock St that was owned by the Methodist, then by the Baptist.\u00a0\u00a0Eventually, with so many people living in the area and working for Burlington Mills that attended the Church of God, Burlington purchased the church from the Baptist and sold it to the Church of God for $1.00 .<\/p>\n

Under the direction of\u00a0\u00a0Rev. Billy Franklin, a<\/em>new brick sanctuary was built in 1952.\u00a0The white church was used for Sunday School Classes.\u00a0\u00a0A Parsonage was built while\u00a0Rev. Henry Likes<\/em>was Pastor.\u00a0\u00a0Later, during the mid 1960\u2019s\u00a0Rev. J.W. Wilson<\/em>combined the white church (and had it bricked) with the brick church and added a fellowship hall.<\/p>\n

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In 1999, under the leadership of\u00a0Rev. Jesse Hathaway,\u00a0<\/em>there was a vision for the church to be relocated.\u00a0\u00a0After Guy Lee purchased the church property on Hancock St., land for the relocation was purchased,\u00a0Rev. Aaron Leonard began construction and in 2000\u00a0Rev. Jerry Waters saw the completion of the new church with an expanded sanctuary, Sunday School class rooms and fellowship hall in 2005.\u00a0\u00a0The church was blessed with a miracle and was debt free in February 2009.\u00a0\u00a0The church was incorporated with\u00a0Rev. Mike Wells in 2010.\u00a0\u00a0Rev. Terry Hayes\u00a0<\/em>began plans and fundraising for a much-needed canopy and\u00a0Rev. Ramon Mizell\u00a0<\/em>finished raising funds and oversaw the construction.<\/p>\n

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first Sunday in the New Church<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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adding the fellowship hall in 2005<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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9-1-32 organized<\/p>\n

1999 smithfield hancock st.<\/p>\n

1999 to central<\/p>\n

2000 smithfield cog<\/p>\n

<\/div>
<\/div><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

Former Pastors and their Tenure<\/h3>\n

Willie Crowders . . . . .\u00a0. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\u00a0. .Mid 40\u2019s \u2013 1949<\/p>\n

Rev. Gosnell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\u00a0. . . 1949- 1951<\/p>\n

Rev. B. Franklin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1951- December 1953<\/p>\n

Henry Liles . . . . .\u00a0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . January 1954- August 1960<\/p>\n

M.L. Berry\u00a0 \u00a0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .September\u00a0 1960 – August 1962<\/p>\n

E.W. Hollifield . . . . .\u00a0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . September 1962 –\u00a0 July 1964<\/p>\n

J.W. Wilson\u00a0 \u00a0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\u00a0August 1964- November 1967<\/p>\n

E.E. Slater \u00a0 \u00a0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .December 1697-\u00a0 June 1968<\/p>\n

R.E. Johnson \u00a0 \u00a0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\u00a0 .July 1968- August 1970<\/p>\n

Odell McBride\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . September\u00a0 1970 – July 1974<\/p>\n

Ralph Wood\u00a0 \u00a0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . August 1974 \u2013 July 1977<\/p>\n

Kermit Kennedy\u00a0 \u00a0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . August 1977- July 1980<\/p>\n

Reid Huffman\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\u00a0 August 1980 \u2013 October 1992<\/p>\n

Haywood Preslar . . . . .\u00a0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . November 1992- October 1994<\/p>\n

Bill Braswell \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .November 1994 \u2013 May 1997<\/p>\n

Jesse Hathaway \u00a0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\u00a0 June 1997- May 1999<\/p>\n

D.A. Leonard \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . June 1999- February 2000<\/p>\n

Jerry Waters\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . March 2000- June 2009<\/p>\n

Michael Wells\u00a0 \u00a0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\u00a0 July 2009- February 2013<\/p>\n

Terry Hayes\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . May 2013- December 2014<\/p>\n

Ramon Mizell \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . January 2015 \u2013 December 2017<\/p>\n

Jerry Waters\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .April 2018 –\u00a0 present<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Smithfield Church of God\u00a0had its humble beginnings in the homes of people having prayer meetings around Burlington Cotton Mill on North Street in the early 1900\u2019s. Leonard Parnell (Mae Hall\u2019s father) built a brush arbor to be used as a church across the railroad tracks behind Burlington Mills.\u00a0In 1931\u00a0Rev. William Pollard\u00a0preached a Revival\u00a0that lasted several weeks and many people were saved.\u00a0\u00a0He stayed on as Pastor of the church.\u00a0\u00a01932, the Smithfield Church of God was organized.   Until the mid 1940\u2019s the church had part time Pastors until\u00a0Rev. Willie Crowderbecame the Pastor.\u00a0\u00a0Around 1948, they moved the church from the bush arbor to the Mill Village on Hancock Street.\u00a0\u00a0There was a little white church on Hancock St that was owned by the Methodist, then by the Baptist.\u00a0\u00a0Eventually, with so many people living in the area and working for Burlington Mills that attended the Church of God, Burlington purchased the church from the Baptist and sold it to the Church of God for $1.00 . Under the direction of\u00a0\u00a0Rev. Billy Franklin, anew brick sanctuary was built in 1952.\u00a0The white church was used for Sunday School Classes.\u00a0\u00a0A Parsonage was built while\u00a0Rev. Henry Likeswas Pastor.\u00a0\u00a0Later, during the mid 1960\u2019s\u00a0Rev. J.W. Wilsoncombined the white church (and had it bricked) with the brick church and added a fellowship hall. In 1999, under the leadership of\u00a0Rev. Jesse Hathaway,\u00a0there was a vision for the church to be relocated.\u00a0\u00a0After Guy Lee purchased the church property on Hancock St., land for the relocation was purchased,\u00a0Rev. Aaron Leonard began construction and in 2000\u00a0Rev. Jerry Waters saw the completion of the new church with an expanded sanctuary, Sunday School class rooms and fellowship hall in 2005.\u00a0\u00a0The church was blessed with a miracle and was debt free in February 2009.\u00a0\u00a0The church was incorporated with\u00a0Rev. Mike Wells in 2010.\u00a0\u00a0Rev. Terry Hayes\u00a0began plans and fundraising for a much-needed canopy and\u00a0Rev. Ramon Mizell\u00a0finished raising funds and oversaw the construction. first Sunday in the New Church adding the fellowship hall in 2005 9-1-32 organized 1999 smithfield hancock st. 1999 to central 2000 smithfield cog Former Pastors and their Tenure Willie Crowders . . . . .\u00a0. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\u00a0. .Mid 40\u2019s \u2013 1949 Rev. Gosnell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\u00a0. . . 1949- 1951 Rev. B. Franklin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1951- December 1953 Henry Liles . . . . .\u00a0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . January 1954- August 1960 M.L. Berry\u00a0 \u00a0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .September\u00a0 1960 – August 1962 E.W. Hollifield . . . . .\u00a0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . September 1962 –\u00a0 July 1964 J.W. Wilson\u00a0 \u00a0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\u00a0August 1964- November 1967 E.E. Slater \u00a0 \u00a0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .December 1697-\u00a0 June 1968 R.E. Johnson \u00a0 \u00a0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\u00a0 .July 1968- August 1970 Odell McBride\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . September\u00a0 1970 – July 1974 Ralph Wood\u00a0 \u00a0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . August 1974 \u2013 July 1977 Kermit Kennedy\u00a0 \u00a0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . August 1977- July 1980 Reid Huffman\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\u00a0 August 1980 \u2013 October 1992 Haywood Preslar . . . . .\u00a0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . November 1992- October 1994 Bill Braswell \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .November 1994 \u2013 May 1997 Jesse Hathaway \u00a0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\u00a0 June 1997- May 1999 D.A. Leonard \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . June 1999- February 2000 Jerry Waters\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . March 2000- June 2009 Michael Wells\u00a0 \u00a0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\u00a0 July 2009- February 2013 Terry Hayes\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . May 2013- December 2014 Ramon Mizell \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . January 2015 \u2013 December 2017 Jerry Waters\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .April 2018 –\u00a0 present  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3886","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smithfieldchurchofgod.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smithfieldchurchofgod.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smithfieldchurchofgod.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smithfieldchurchofgod.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smithfieldchurchofgod.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3886"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/smithfieldchurchofgod.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3886\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4987,"href":"https:\/\/smithfieldchurchofgod.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3886\/revisions\/4987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smithfieldchurchofgod.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}