Photo furnished
Presbyterian church around 1911. Steeple and bell tower were removed.

•October 11, 2017•

By Ellen Ferrera
for the News Progress

On Sunday, September 29, 2017 the six member congregation and the minister of Sullivan’s Presbyterian Church held its last service. They said their good-byes and then quietly and without fanfare closed their church. On that day a 169- year-old church passed into the ages.

“The church was unable to attract young families to grow the church, and we were faced with very expensive repair work,” Mary Ann Hargis said.

The Cumberland Presbyterians were one of the first groups to start organized religious work in Moultrie County and their Bethany church is believed to be the oldest church in the county. The Sullivan church was organized in 1848 under the auspices of the Bethany Cumberland Presbyterian by the Rev. Joseph M. Bone, Joel Knight and A. M. Wilson with a starting congregation of nine. This was two years before Sullivan incorporated as a village. The church was incorporated as such until about 1911.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.