Huey Long, Earl Long, Hank Williams, Jr., Terry Bradshaw, Jerry Lee Lewis, Howard K. Smith, “Steel Magnolias”. Those are a few of the well-known names and places that are associated with north Louisiana. Huey and Earl Long were from Winnfield, Hank Williams, Jr. and Terry Bradshaw were from Shreveport, Jerry Lee Lewis and Howard K. Smith hailed from Ferriday, and “Steel Magnolias” was filmed in Natchitoches.
According to its webpage, Pines Presbytery consists of 50 PCUSA congregations located in southern Arkansas and northern Louisiana. More than half of these are in Louisiana. Originally, these Louisiana churches comprised Red River Presbytery and the Arkansas churches were part of Ouachita Presbytery. With reunion in 1983 the two became one – Pines Presbytery.
Although there are, no doubt, many faithful Presbyterian leaders in this part of God’s kingdom that could be cited, this column will focus on three who contributed to a Presbyterian witness there.
Born in Franklin, Kentucky in February, 1809, J. Franklin Ford attended Princeton Seminary. With six charter members he organized the Presbyterian church in Alexandria, Louisiana in 1844. He served Presbyterians in that town from 1842-1850. The Alexandria church was the first Presbyterian church organized outside New Orleans, Baton Rouge and their surrounding areas.
First Presbyterian Church in Shreveport was organized in 1845, and Ford served that church from 1850-1856. It was during his pastorate that the church’s first building was constructed in 1851. From 1856-1866 he was president of the Female Academy in Minden, Louisiana, and then returned to serve the church in Shreveport from 1866-1869. Ford was a commissioner from Red River Presbytery to the first PCUS General Assembly. In 1861. Even while serving as pastor in Shreveport, Ford was instrumental in starting Presbyterian churches in the area. For example, on November 4, 1851 Ford organized the First Presbyterian Church in Homer, Louisiana. According to Penrose St. Amant’s A History of Presbyterians in Louisiana, Ford “was instrumental in organizing the Midway, Homer, Good Hope, and Mansfield churches, was pastor of the church in Minden from 1856 to 1864, and presided over two schools!” (P. 106). He died in 1869.
First Presbyterian Church in Shreveport has a distinguished history. In 1995 the church’s sesquicentennial was celebrated, in part, with the publication of that church’s history by Rev. Dr. Spencer Murray who served as associate pastor there from 1980-1991. From 1958-1963 Rev. William A. Benfield, Jr. served that congregation as its senior pastor. Benfield, a native of West Virginia and a graduate of Louisville Theological Seminary, came to Shreveport from Louisville where he had served as pastor of the Highland Presbyterian Church from 1949-1958. That pastorate was at a time when that city, along with others around the country, was dealing with the issue of civil rights and the racial integration of public facilities (for on this, see The Louisville Story by Omer Carmichael and Weldon James).
Shreveport was not immune from this issue. On October 23, 1960, according to Murray’s book, “(t)he chairman of ushers asked the Session what to do if member of ‘the Negro race attempt to attend the worship services.’ A motion not to seat them passed without discussion. Benfield then indicated to a shocked Session that he would have to resign, for he could not serve a congregation with such a policy” (p. 100). The next evening Benfield spoke to the session and the board of deacons, explaining “that he believed the church belonged to God who was a God of all people. Therefore, no one could place a limit on who could worship Him. Nothing in the Book of Church Order, the Confession of Faith, or the New Testament allowed humans to decide who the church is. The Session had no right to determine who could come to worship. He felt no court of the church would agree with the Session’s action” (p. 101).
After this joint meeting of elders and deacons the session “convened and adopted a policy statement which had been offered by Benfield. The policy would not turn anyone away from a service of worship…. The essence of the policy stated: “If you enter this sanctuary with the sincere desire to worship God, the Session prays its blessing upon you; if you enter this sanctuary in order to test us, the Session prays that God may forgive you for such a blasphemous use of his Holy Name” (p. 101).
Benfield remained at First Church, Shreveport for five years, leaving in 1963 to accept a call from First Presbyterian Church in Charleston, West Virginia.
Daniel Lloyd O’Neal was born in Choudrant, Louisiana on September 2, 1899. Having attended both Louisville Theological Seminary and Union Seminary in Richmond, he was licensed and ordained on July 2, 1926 by Red River Presbytery. He served churches in Bastrop, Louisiana, Zion Church in Columbia, Tennessee, and First Presbyterian Church in Homer, Louisiana. From 1952-1969 he served Red River Presbytery, first as executive secretary for church extension and then as executive presbyter. In 1952 he served as moderator of the Synod of Louisiana. Although he retired in 1969, he worked tirelessly to recruit pastors to serve churches in Red River Presbytery and could frequently be seen on the campus of Austin Seminary in that effort. His son, William O’Neal also was a Presbyterian minister, serving churches in Montgomery, Alabama; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Bay City, Texas; and Longview, Texas. Lloyd O’Neal’s grandson, David, also became a Presbyterian minister, serving churches in east Texas.
With a few exceptions Red River Presbytery (and now Pines Presbytery) was made up of relatively small congregations serving faithfully over the years. Whether large or small, these congregations have made history by bearing witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ in their own way and in their own time. We are grateful for that faithful witness.
The Presbyterian Historical Society of the Southwest exists to “stimulate and encourage interest in the collection, preservation, and presentation of the Presbyterian and Reformed heritage” in the Southwest. If you are not a participating member of the Society and would like to become one, the annual dues are $20 per individual and $25 per couple. Annual institutional and church membership dues are $100. Checks may be made out to PHSSW and sent to:
PHSSW – 5525 Traviston Ct., Austin, TX 78738.
