Gretna Christian Church 100th Anniversary

Gretna Christian Church 100th Anniversary

Minister:  Dwight Mays

111 Leftwich Street
Gretna, Virginia
Mailing Address: Post Office Box 644 Gretna, Virginia 24557

John W. West
May 1, 1871   -     November 3, 1958
John W. West was the son of the minister Painter D. West and his wife Nancy E. West of Somerset, Maryland. He was the first of nine children.  His father Painter D. West was a pioneer in the Disciples of Christ Church.  Reverend West began his ministry as a lay preacher, speaking first at missions and later in churches.
In 1896, Reverend West matriculated into Tazewell College to further his education.  After graduating from Tazewell College, he began preaching in Southwestern Virginia..
In 1917, the Reverend West was preaching in the Lunenberg, Brunswick county area.  Three Sundays a month he would preach at the Perserverance and New Hope churches and then on the fourth Sunday, he would get in his Model T Ford Car and travel over 140 miles to preach to churches in Blackstone, Kenbridge, Oakland, Union Chapel and Pleasant Hill.  By 1918, due to the growth in his ministry the Reverend W. H. Leake was called to assist him.
In the summer of 1919, at the age of  48,  Reverend West submitted his resignation to New Hope, Perserverance and Pleasant Hill Christian Churches and continued doing his work on the circuit.
In 1920, Dr. J. T. T. Hundley, President of Lynchburg College, recommended Reverend West for the Inter-Church World Movement  and he moved to Lynchburg, Virginia.  He would later organize the Southwestern Evangelism Board.
While I do not have definitive information as to the exact dates that Reverent West preached at Gretna Christian,   I believe that he must have been a preacher between 1920 and 1940.  I know that this is a huge gap, but in later posts I hope to have more conclusive information.
The Reverend West preached for more than half a century.  He baptized two thousand persons and promoted programs that resulted in about ten thousand baptisms. He organized seven churches and assisted in the organization of about fifty other churches.  He was the author of a book entitled Sketches of Our Mountain Pioneers .  This book is available at Amazon.
The Reverend West died at his home in Lynchburg, Virginia on November 3, 1958.  He was the father of three sons and they all become ministers of the Disciples of Christ church.

Thank you to:

Mark E. Poole  photos

Disciples of Christ Historical Society 

Gretna Christian Church