A Brief History of Minden, Louisiana
The Work Begins
At the end of September 1918, Mr. and Mrs. Denton and Elder O. F. Frank began a series of meetings in Minden. A few days after the meetings started, G. S. Vreeland, the Southwestern Union Conference artist, joined them and drew many people and sermon illustrations which helped keep the interest. Two weeks before the meetings were set to close the health officials said no more public meetings could be held until an influenza epidemic had subsided. The next day Elder Frank came down with the flu and was sick for several days. When he returned to try to finish the meetings he discovered that many new cases of the disease were being reported, so they finally took down the tent down and finished the work by holding Bible readings in homes (Frank, 1918).
Minden Sabbath School Organized in 1934
In August 1934, a Sabbath school was organized at Minden with a charter membership of fourteen. There continued to be from one to eight visitors each Sabbath until Sabbath, September 22, when thirty-five were present and six new ones added their names to the membership of the Sabbath school (Baker, 1934).
Minden Church Organized in 1952
July 7, 1952, Elder Perry Green, assisted by his wife and Mr. and Mrs. Don Winger, launched an evangelistic meeting on a lot near the heart of the city of Minden (Green, 1952). From the very beginning attendance at the meeting was high, reaching to well over 300. Each Sunday night nearly as many were seated outside of the tent as inside, and through the week the attendance was good. At the close of the meeting a Sabbath school was reformed, and some of the members of the Shreveport church, located about thirty miles away, helped foster this new group. The Sabbath attendance often reached a total of fifty or more. On Sabbath, November 8, 1952, the Minden group was organized into a church with thirty members. Officers were appointed and the members made plans to build a church (Sanders, 1953).
A New Church in 1954
The Minden members purchased a lot one-half block off the main highway and on May 3, 1953, they held a groundbreaking ceremony, with the local elder, R. D. Black, turning over the first shovel of dirt (Green, 1953).
Minden Church Dedicated
Sabbath afternoon, December 14, 1964, the beautiful little Minden Church on Magnolia Street was dedicated. Among the guest speakers were Elder Perry Green, who had held the meetings in 1952, and his family (Evans, 1964).
A New Church in 2005
In the year 2000, the Minden congregation began looking for a place to relocate across town. They spent many hours working to make this happen. In 2002, they sold their church to the New Start church of the Southwest Region Conference. Members of the Minden church worshiped with the New Start congregation until their new facility was ready (Schwisow, 2004). On February 12, 2005, their new church on Harvey’s Way was dedicated. After a special service in the church, the mayor of Minden conducted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the church (Sharpe, 2005).
Citations
Baker, Isaac. (1934, Oct. 10). Southwestern Union Record, p. 3.
Evans, I. M. (1964, Jan. 15). Ibid., p. 2.
Frank, O. F. (1918, Nov. 28). Southern Union Worker, p. 6.
Green, Perry. (1952, Sep. 17). Southwestern Union Record, p. 1.
Ibid. (1953, May 20). p. 4
Sanders, F. O. (1953, Jan. 7). Ibid., p. 4.
Sharpe, Lisa. (2005, Apr. 1). Ibid., p. 11.
Schwisow, Ed. (2004, Jul. 1). Ibid., p. 12.
How it all Began 