In the Oxford Presbyterian Church there were six ministers who served our church during this period. They were: The Reverends Donald E. Jordan (10 years), John W. Primrose (5 years), Richard Baxter Willis (3 years), John Calvin Dinwiddie (1 year), Joseph R. Rennie (3 years) and James Ernest Thacker (3 years). Their salaries ranged from $200.00 for one half of their time to $800.00 for full time, per annum, payable quarterly, in equal installments.
The first Session book covers only 17 of the years of this period and the whole ministry of only two pastors, and a part of the third ministry, for the records end with the entry of July 31, 1887. The second Session book has for years been lost and in this lost book are the minutes of the Session covering the remaining eight years and the ministry of the three other pastors of this twenty-five years period.
The present church property, which is the site of both church buildings, was deeded (Deed Book 12, page 391, Office of the Register of Deeds of Granville County) by Thomas B. Littlejohn to R.B. Gilliam and five trustees (Joseph H. Bryan, Stephen K. Sneed, William V. Taylor, Robert I. Yancey, Harris William) and/or congregation in consideration of the sum of ten shillings (approximately $2.40).
It is interesting to note that when the church was organized in 1818, two elders, Thomas B. Littlejohn and H.M. McClean were elected, and seven years later on December 11, 1825, three Trustees were elected. It was not until May 1, 1870, there is recorded that deacons were duly elected, set apart and ordained as such. These deacons were Job Osborne and Leonidas C. Taylor. ( First Session Book page 126, and page 101 in 1858). Immediately, it was “ordered that the deacons take up a collection at every regular Sabbath morning’s service” (first Session Book, page 125) and later, on October 18, 1870 of the same year (first Session Book, page 133), the Session ordered that the deacons “be authorized to use the envelope system in making collections.”
On April 19, 1878, in a report to Orange Presbytery, we read, We have regular preaching both morning and evening on the first and third Sabbaths of each month. Congregations are small. Regular weekly prayer meetings are only tolerably well attended. There has been some improvement of late.
On September 30, 1878, the Session reports to Presbytery, ...on the state of religion in our congregation that there is no special religious interest... We have no Bible class and no preaching for the colored people. There are seats for these people in the gallery and at times a few of them attend. We should state that our church has suffered severely from deaths and removals and has found it hard to hold its own against the ebb tide and is not a little discouraged. Total number of communicants was given as 68. The exodus seems to have continued, for three years later, the total number of communicants has dropped to 49. Six years later, on April 9, 1887, this number increased to 86. Elders numbered 5 and Deacons, 4. The Reverend Richard Baxter Willis was pastor and once again it seems that the church was on the march.
The Reverend and Mrs. Faucette put up a building on College Street about 1888 which was later used for a graded school. The Oxford College had drawn most of its support from Baptists, but among 5,000 alumni were women of all denomionations, so it was with the encouragement of Presbyterians that this act was done.
At the last part of this twenty-five years period, the church was filled with diligent work and sacrificial giving. During the three-years pastorate of Dr. Joseph Rennie, the present beautiful structure was built in 1892 and the little brick church which had been built in 1830 was torn down. The congregation was so proud of this splendid new building that they made quite a celebration of its dedication. Dr. Moses Drury Hoge of Richmond, Virginia, preached the dedication sermon and it was really quite an affair. The building was deemed to be a suitable setting for marriages and funerals.
Although the records are lost, Dr. Rennie and Dr. J. Ernest Thacker left their imprint on the church and the life of the town, for they were called to larger fields of usefulness and became prominent in the life of the Southern Presbyterian Church.
We were still in the Orange Presbytery at this time.
In 1892, the second pipe organ was installed and remained until 1965 when the new Casavant organ was installed.
December 21, 1892, the first wedding was held in the new church. The groom was Crawford J. Cooper, member of the banking firm - J.C. Cooper & Sons, and the bride was Emmie Faucette, daughter of the Reverend T.U. Faucette. This was an elaborate wedding, with the church fully decorated and every seat occupied. There were two flower girls, five ushers, and twenty attendants. It was a spendid affair.