The South Reporter
March 5, 1999

First organized as the Philadelphia Church in 1844 and built of logs by a group of settlers from NC. The first families of worshippers were: Flinn, Newell, Caldwell, Canon, Houston, Blair, Martin, Johnson, Black, and Woodson. In 1850 the church was rebuilt of bricks on land donated by Alfred O. Canon at a nearby location and served three denominations: Presbyterian, Methodist and Baptist and consisted of worshippers: Carlock, Latta, Taylor, Hardy, Crow, Seabrook, Pipkin, Raiford, Mahon, Hancock, Shaw, Berkeley, Grier, Goodman, Richmond, Well, Crook, Kilpatrick, and West. In 1888, the church was moved to its present location on a lot donated by W.F. Parks when the railroad was built. The church's name was changed in 1901 to Red Banks.

Organization of Philadelphia Presbyterian Church

Submitted by Sarah Perry

The Red Banks Presbyterian Church was organized in 1844 under the name of Philadelphia Church, by the Presbytery of Chickasaw, Synod of Mississippi.  It was the 15th church to be organized in the North Mississippi Presbytery.  In the first statistical report, that of 1857, the members numbered 44.

No mention of the minister who organized the church could be found, and neither was there a list of the charter members kept.  All were destroyed when the first book of minutes of the Session was burned. 

The name, Philadelphia, was given this church because some of the earliest communicants had earlier been members of Old Philadelphia Church, built on Clear Creek in North Carolina, by their ancestors who migrated there from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Members of this congregation had fond memories of their "old meeting house" (Philadelphia) in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, so it was natural that they should call their new church by that name. 

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