St. Clair County Missouri
Churches
Cooks Chapel Church
Rev. Joseph Beaty, an evangelist, on the step of the
Original Cook's Chapel
Church Building.
Rev. Thomas A. Cook, left; Rev Marion Scott,
an early (possibly first)
pastor.
COOK’S CHAPEL CHURCH
History:
The Church of God (Holiness) was first introduced to the Lewis neighborhood
west of Osceola, Missouri by a traveling evangelist, Rev. Thomas A. Cook.
A
revival meeting was held in a brush arbor near the present Cook’s Chapel
Church in
approximately 1909. From that humble beginning to the present time
the work of the
Church of God (Holiness) has continued. However, during the
early years services were
held in homes, the Lewis schoolhouse and other
brush arbors.
In 1928 an acre of land was sold by Edward W. Bourland and Laura Bourland,
husband and wife,
for the purpose of constructing a church building. Early
church records are not available
so the exact date of dedication is not
known. The church was named Cook’s Chapel in honor of
Rev. Thomas A. Cook,
the first Church of God (Holiness) minister to preach in the neighborhood.
The first deacons were Harry Bourland, Marion Collins and Charlie Wilcox.
On March 4, 1956 a grass fire got out of control and the church burned to
the ground.
Soon plans were underway to rebuild on the exact site of the
original building. In a few months
the new building was completed and ready
for services.
For almost a century the Cook’s Chapel Church has ministered to people in
this area.
Submitted by: Jane Cole, February 2006