Our First Chapel
In 1964, Greers Ferry Lake was completed and there was an influx of visitors from the Little Rock area on weekends who wanted a place to worship. The first seeds were planted when founding members gathered at Nadine Ball’s Café at the intersection of Hwy. 16 and Hwy. 92 to drink coffee and dream. Founding members included Oscar and Frances Nixon, Martha Bond and Nadine Ball. Other founding families of our church included Jack and Amanda Tucker, Kenneth W. and Gretchin Rolan, J.C. Pearson, Joe Hawkins, Arthur Westerman, Allen and Mrs. Baker, Nancy Baker, Dwight and Donna Beard and Ivo and Virginia Phelps.
The church was organized in September of 1964 and a trailer was procured and moved to a site on Hwy 16 near Nadine’s restaurant. It was the Bonds who suggested the name “Holiday Hills, and the board approved. The first trailer church was pastored by Charles Jones, a Bible student from Batesville.
But our roots go back even further than this first humble place of worship, In 1963, Mr. Cy Bond discovered, through courthouse records, that some 80 years prior there had been a Methodist Church in Higden—just 3 miles from our present church. The property was reclaimed, and then sold. With these funds and help from the Arkansas Methodist Conference, a trailer was purchased in 1963 and placed near the old post office in Higden.
Church members opened the first bank account with $10. 00 in December 1964. Membership increased very slowly at first. Rev. Thomas J. Cowan became the fulltime pastor in June of 1965, after appointment by the conference. The first wedding was in 1965 between Elouise Roebuck and J. Cliff Person. July 4 1965 was a red letter day for the little trailer Chapel, for the first time ever they could not seat all the worshippers.
The first meeting of the new building committee for the present building was held at the Sugar Loaf Boat Dock September 13, 1966, exactly two years after the first organizational meeting in 1964. Jack Tucker was chairman and Oscar Nixon treasurer. Mr. Tucker borrowed $2,000 from the Clinton State Bank; the board of missions donated $1,000; $5,000 was received from the conference, and $2,675 was raised through pledges. Fred Dudeck was chairman of the board at this hectic time.
The church was completed in time to hold the first service on Easter Sunday 1967. The Methodist Conference awarded us the prestigious “Open Country Church of the Year” award for the 1967/68 year. With all debts paid, our Bishop Paul V. Galloway dedicated the church on December 8, 1968. The facility remained the same until the kitchen and small fellowship hall was added in 1973 and named after Rev. Cowan.
The church was completed in time to hold the first service on Easter Sunday 1967. The Methodist Conference awarded us the prestigious “Open Country Church of the Year” award for the 1967/68 year. With all debts paid, our Bishop Paul V. Galloway dedicated the church on December 8, 1968. The facility remained the same until the kitchen and small fellowship hall was added in 1973 and named after Rev. Cowan.
In 2012 a 4,000 sq ft addition was completed and dedicated March 25th, 2012. This new space accommodates our growing Educational, Fellowship and Administrative needs. The new space was dedicated by Arkansas Conference Bishop, Reverend Charles Crutchfield, District Superintendent Reverend Charles Settle and HHUMC Pastor Reverend Dan Brand.