Page 12 - Harnett Life Fall 2019

For Linden church,

historical roots run deep

By Morgan Brown

May 5, 1816 marked the establishment of Sardis Presbyte-
rian Church. The 27 founding members, said current Rev-
erend Matt Bowman, likely chose the location they did
due to one single reason: “Primarily, geography was the
motivating factor.” Traveling to one of the other nearest
churches in Fayetteville proved to be challenging con-
sidering the road conditions and transportation options
available during that time. The founding members came
together to start the church out of necessity; they want-
ed a place to gather and worship, but because there was
no such place available, they created one. The church’s
historical records indicate that the membership was at its
peak with around 100 members, while there are 65 mem-
bers currently.

For the church’s 200th Homecoming service in 2016, a
book of “historical retrospectives” was compiled, detail-
ing how the church came to be, written in three install-
ments, beginning in 1916 with the writing of Reverend
J.K. Hall, who was pastor from 1911-1917. Reading the
reverend’s account of notable milestones in the church’s
history puts in perspective how far removed we are from
the church’s beginnings, even as chronicled at what we
know as the halfway point in its history. He cited histor-