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A Brief History of Wayside |
On the first Sunday of February, 1917, the Rev. Moses K. Hollister, and a few interested people, organized a Community Sunday School for Walden's Ridge. They began meeting in the old stucco Fairmount School building, across the street from Wayside's present location. Mrs. Della Camp, who had fourteen children, was one of those who helped start the new Sunday School. Through the efforts of Mr. and Mrs. L. E. Taylor, the land on which Wayside is built was secured as a gift from Mrs. Z. C. Patten on November 16, 1937. Work began on the foundation in 1939, and building materials were collected. Large stones for the foundation came from a building in downtown Chattanooga, where the Post Office now stands.
In the Spring of 1944 Wayside's first full-time minister, the Rev. William Rice, began working in the Walden's Ridge community as a home missionary from the Knoxville Presbytery of the Southern Presbyterian Church (PCUS). He was installed as Wayside's pastor on April 7, 1946, and Wayside Presbyterian Church officially began with 38 charter members.
Construction of the sanctuary, supervised by Pastor Rice who drew up the plans for both the manse and the sanctuary, continued gradually, and was completed in July of 1949. The stones of the building were donated from the land of elder E. A. Barker from Sequatchie Valley. The walls are two feet thick, of solid stone, 24 feet high. 210 truckloads of rough stone were used in construction. The bronze bell in Wayside's bell tower was cast in Cincinnati in 1857, and was used previously in a Chattanooga church, and in a fire station. It was obtained for Wayside by Mr. Clevenger from the Chattanooga City Commission. It is inscribed with Bible drawings, and weighs 525 pounds.
Wayside's Sunday School wing was built in 1964 as a gift from Ben and Lillian Colby, who also donated Wayside's first Baldwin organ. The Sunday School wing is named after Dr. John Morrison, former missionary to Africa, and Pastor at Wayside 1959-1965.
As the PCUS becamed a "Liberal" denomination, in 1973 Wayside changed denominations, to the more conservative Presbyterian Church in America. The PCA holds to the inerrancy of the Bible, is pro-life, and emphasizes evangelism and foreign missions. Wayside support about two dozen missionary families around the world, as well as numerous outreaches in the local area.
Dr. Richard Harris pastored Wayside 1975-1986, and was responsible for starting Wayside's Christian Preschool, and our Annual Missions Conference. He also installed the stained glass cross window above the choir loft.
Wayside's pipe organ was dedicated in December 1995. It was a gift to the church from Mrs. George M. Cannon, whose husband had built the organ in 1977. It was extensively rebuilt by Barger and Nix Pipe Organ Service Associates, and has been a wonderful blessing in our worship services. Mrs. Fern Eaves has served as Wayside's organist since 1977.
Since 1946 Wayside has had eleven pastors, including Dr. Marshall C. St. John, our present pastor. Dr. St. John began ministering at Wayside in August of 1989. Dr. St. John has degrees from Moody Bible Institute, Faith Theological Seminary, and Covenant Theological Seminary. Before coming to Wayside he pastored the Bible Presbyterian Church in Concord, North Carolina. He has served as Moderator of the Tennessee Valley Presbytery of the PCA, and as Chairman of the Theological Examining Committee of the TVP.
In 1996 several families, the Session, and Pastor St. John began discussing the formation of a Christian elementary school. By God's grace, Signal Mountain Christian School began holding classes at Wayside in September 1998, and now has grades K-5. SMCS is now a completely independent organization in its own right, and is looking for land to build and grow as God provides.
Wayside received a generous bequest in the Spring of 2002 from the late Margaret Phillips of Signal Mountain, and used this money to construct an additional educational wing. This new building provided an elevator, restrooms, library/classroom, youth activity room, nursery rooms and much needed storage space. A large playground with a small basketball court was also constructed, and fenced in. The building was built by Downer Construction Company, and the project was spear-headed by elder Robert P. Bukovsky. Stained glass windows in the original sanctuary were preserved and moved to the new addition, which was designed to blend in perfectly with the already existing building.
As Wayside faces the future, it is our desire to be true to the Word of God, to be a blessing to God's people, and to the Walden's Ridge community, and to continue to share the Gospel at home and around the world.
