During the 1960's, Third Creek Baptist Church was without a parsonage for our pastor, Rev. D. W. Rutherford. Rev. Rutherford traveled from Marion, North Carolina to Third Creek Baptist Church to pastor. Sometimes staying Saturday night with various church members.

 

Rev. Rutherford located a house in Marion that needed to be torn down. He bought the house for the sum of $10.00 (ten dollars). The man living next door to the house to be torn down hated to see the house go because he had seen a miracle in that house. A young girl 13 years old had been pronounced dead in the house. They waited for her Aunt to come from Virginia. It took the Aunt three days to get to Marion. When the Aunt arrived, she entered the house saying, "she is not dead". Having been in the casket three days, they were viewing the body of the young girl and the Aunt said, "she is not dead, she is breathing. The young girl lived, married and raised a family of four or five children. The man next door said it was a miracle. He came over every day and checked on the men working.

 

The house in Marion was to be torn down and rebuilt for our church parsonage in Stony Point. The church purchased the parsonage land from Bro. James A. Parker. A parsonage was needed to better serve the church.

 

The trucks of Bro. Robert Parker Sr., Bro. Arthur Parker Sr. and Bro. Partee Wellman were used to haul materials and the cars of Bro. James A. Parker, Bro. Willie Rease, Bro. Lane McWhorter and Bro. Frances Wellman were used to transport workers.

 

Some adult workers included; Dolsie Parker, Monroe Parker and Grier McClain. Some youth workers included; Armall Adams, Sr., Wayne Hill, Leonard McClain, James McClain, Willie Millsaps, Dale Parker, Eugene Parker, Farley Parker,  Tallie Parker, John "Bubba" Rease, Joe H. Thomas and Larry Wellman.

 

The traveling workers worked hard to tear the house down and load the materials on trucks to be transported down to Stony Point. In Marion, the house was torn down brick by brick, nail by nail, and board by board. Before the bricks were brought to Stony Point, they were cleaned and stacked. The trucks were loaded with boards, clean/stacked bricks from the foundation, chimneys and retaining wall. A heavy kerosene furnace from the old house was used in the parsonage. The loaded trucks were driven to Stony Point and unloaded in the woods where our parsonage is located.

 

It was all day work and lunch on the ground. There were no forklifts, just manpower. We traveled back and forth to Marion before 1-40 was completed. Old 70 was taken from Valdese to the Rock Barn Road. On one particular occasion while bringing a load to Stony Point, Bro. Robert Parker, Sr. had a flat tire on Rock Barn Road. Unaware of the problems with Bro. Robert's truck, Bro. Partee rode off and left Bro. Robert's truck with a flat tire. But thank goodness Bro. Arthur Parker was still behind Bro. Robert's truck, so he stopped to check on Bro. Robert. Bro. Robert told him he had to drive slow so he would not blow another tire. Bro. Robert told Bro. Arthur, "if I am not in Stony Point within a reasonable time, come back and look for me".

It was also remembered, Mr. Arthur Parker received a ticket for no turning signal.

One day while working in Marion, the police came by and made the young men sweep all the debris off the sidewalk.

 

On a hungry day, Mount Moriah Baptist Church ladies brought a fantastic home cooked lunch for the workers. Rev. Rutherford's wife, Mrs. Cora and daughters were among the cooks. The workers ate lunch under the trees. The menu that was remembered was:  Fried Chicken, Creamed Corn, Green Beans, Mashed Potatoes, Meat Loaf, Tea and Bread

 

In Stony Point, brick by brick, nail by nail, board by board the parsonage was built for the pastor of Third Creek Baptist Church. The fittings were dug by hand. A water line was dug from the well at the church to the parsonage. The brickwork in Stony Point was completed by Bro. Sir Walter McClain. The lead carpenter in building back the house was Mr. Mitch Summers' father from Harmony. The parsonage was completed in approximately 1964. The parsonage has housed three pastors; Rev. D. W. Rutherford, Rev. D. U. Cooper, Sr., and Rev. J. H. Thomas