The Richard City Cumberland Presbyterian Church was organized on March 14, 1906 at Deptford (today Richard City), Tennessee. This Marion County congregation was composed of thirty-seven charter members. The organizing pastor was the Rev. L. B. Morgan. The charter ruling elders were E. W. Arnett, and J. W. Kirkpatrick. Kirkpatrick was enrolled as the church's first elder at the April 3, 1906 meeting of Chattanooga Presbytery.

On April 14, 1920, Chattanooga Presbytery gave its approval for the church to change its name to Richard City Cumberland Presbyterian Church. The reason for the name change was to allow the congregation to be better identified with the new name of the town.

Founded in 1906, just prior to the General Assembly meeting of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Decatur, Illinois, that voted to merge with the Presbyterian Church U.S.A., this congregation remained loyal to the Cumberland Presbyterians. J. W. Stiles was the pastor of the church in early 1914. Later that year he was succeeded by the Rev. J. S. Carson. In 1920, the pastor was J. G. Stewart.

Richard City was a small town located in Sequatchie Valley two miles south of South Pittsburg, and almost on the Tennessee-Alabama state line. In 1934, the Rev. J. H. Scissom described Richard City as "a little cement town of about 1000 population" with three churches.

From 1906 throught he early 1930s, the Richard City Church was considered by Chattanooga Presbytery to be a small mission church whose survival was always in question. In 1920, to keep Cumberland Presbyterian efforts alive in the town, the church session agreed to participate with the Baptist and the Methodist churches in a community church endeavor. The two other churches agreed to conduct their religious services in the Cumberland Presbyterian edifice, and to share in the maintaining of the facility. The three congregations employd a full-time pastor to minister to the needs of the members of each church. The Rev. J.G. Stewart was appointed as community pastor.

In 1922, the community church agreement was not renewed by the Cumberland Presbyterians. The Cumberland Presbyterians believed they were capable of sustaining themselves without assistance from the other two congregations. In deciding to terminate their relationship with the Baptists and the Methodists, the Cumberland Presbyterians did not abandon the other two churches. The Baptists and the Methodists were allowed to continue holding services in the Cumberland Presbyterian church house. The Richard City Church also asked, Chattanooga Presbytery, because the Rev. Stewart had resigned as community pastor, to group them with other Cumberland Presbyterian churches in the area for receiving pastoral supply assistance. Presbytery agreed to this request.

The following year, Chattanooga Presbytery appointed a commission to investigate the possibility of disposing of some of the unused property in the possession of the Richard City church. Since the Chattanooga Presbytery minutes from 1924 to 1937 are missing, it is unknown whether the unused property was sold.

In 1924, the Rev. Charles A. Galloway became pastor of the church. He reported, at the end of 1925, that during his tenure as pastor, the church had received twenty-five new members, and he had helped twenty-four people find Christ. The church had also ordained and installed three new deacons. When Galloway resigned as pastor of the church in 1926, he expressed disappointment that he and his wife had to leave the church. His reasons for leaving were financial. With two children entering college in 1926, he needed to serve a larger church to help finance their college educations. He left Richard City to become pastor of a Cumberland Presbyterian church in Lebanon, Tennessee.

Following Galloway's resignation, the Rev. George K. McMackin from Nashville, Tennessee, was employed as pastor of the church. He began his work on January 1, 1926. McMackin, however, was forced after five months to resign for several reasons. First, only about one-third of the members were tithing on a regular basis. This affected the church's operating budget, and the salary of the pastor. Second, several individuals, who were not members of the church but were tithing on a regular basis, were attempting to dictate what topics the pastor's sermons should follow. Third, there were some internal divisions within the congregation about possibly dissolving the church and merging with the South Pittsburg church.

The Rev. McMackin, under such circumstances, believed it best that he resign, and seek another pastorate. The church session in accepting his resignation pointed out that the problems the church was experiencing were not related to his service, but had existed for several years. The church session described McMackin as a man who had "won the confidence of all with whom he has come in contact; that he has preached to the best of his ability; that he has visited in the homes of all alike without showing the least bit of partiality with regard to church affiliation; that he has met the men in the factory, in the shop, in the store, or on the stret, and has endeavored to live the life of a Christian gentleman...He does not compromise with sin in any sense. He is faithful in his work in the Sunday School, and with the young people...." Following McMackin's departure, the church began a search for a pastor who could unite the congregation, and end its internal difficulties.

The Rev. J. H. Scissom became pastor of the Richard City Church in 1927. He was able to bring the various factions of the church together in a common program. He possessed a powerful and persuasive presence, and was able to lead the church through the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Four years after becoming pastor of the church, Scissom was described in the Cumberland Presbyterian as a minister who, "...took charge of our church at Richard City, a struggling mission, and under his leadership that church has grown in a wonderful way. Brother Scissom is a natural leader. He certainly knows how to build up a church."

In late 1931, the Rev. W. A. Blades was invited by the Rev. Scissom to conduct a two week revival at the church. This revival closed on November 1, and according to Scissom, "Brother Blades (of Red Bank) brought some real stirring messages, resulting in thirty-three conversions and reclamations, with twenty-three additions to the church, thirteen baptisms and three others to be baptized yet. The Richard City Church, which has been a struggling mission, now has eighty-six resident member, five elders, and two deacons. We have planned to make the Richard City Cumberland Presbyterian Church one of the strongest churches in the Sequatchie Valley. The church will never forget Brother W. A. Blades who has been such a great help to the church in solving its problems."

Three years later, the Rev. Scissom reported another successful revival at the church. This revival, conducted by a Rev. Phillips, who was described by Scissom as "a licensed preacher (with) great power (as a result of) a clean life," inspired many conversions and additions to the church with his persuasive oratory. At the conclusion of the two week revival, twenty-five conversions had resulted. Of this number, fourteen joined the church bringing its membership up to an all time high of 138. Ten percent of the membership was listed as being composed of children. Scissom estimated that at least 100 other residents in or near Richard City were candidates for membership in the church.

In 1934, the church was one of three churches in Richard City. The prospects of the congregation becoming self-supporting looked very good--even in the depths of an economic depression. As the Rev. Scissom commented, "The way our church has grown in the past five years we plan to have the biggest church in town in the near future."

The Rev. Scissom also described the Great Depression as having had a tremendous effect on the congregation. While the church had done well numerically, the membership was suffering from the economic calamity. Scissom reported that most of the members of the church were unemployed, and struggling through hard times. He hoped, however, that the depression would end soon, and beleived most members were still optimistic and would survive.

By 1940, there was little doubt that the Richard City Church would survive. The congregation had steadily grown during the depression, and as the economy rebounded so did the church. In the fall of 1940, the church was remodeled. Further remodeling, however, was postponed by World War II.

In 1948, the church was again remodeled to update the facilities, and to attract more members. The Rev. J. O. Lankford was the pastor of the church, and he reported that during his first nine months as pastor, twenty-one people had joined the congregation. Lankford believed the Richard City Church was capable of great accomplishments because it was "blessed with the greatest number of young people (he) knew of anywhere."

During the 1950s, and first half of the 1960s, the Richard City Church was served by a number of supply pastors that included the Rev. E. Thach Shauf. In 1965 the Rev. Oscar Lee Nichols took charge of the church on a full-time basis. He served the church until 1976. Under his leadership, the church built, and dedicated, on June 4, 1967, a new church plant. Construction of the new plant began in June 1966, and the first religious service was held in November 1966. The new church building was built on the site where the first church house had stood. During the time the first church house was dismantled and the second one erected, the congregation held services in the local elementary school.

The building committee for the second church plant consisted of Joe Ray Wilson, Joe Smith, Raymond Vinson, and Harvey Payne. The designer of the church was the Rev. Eugene Leslie, associate secretary of the Denomination's Board of Missions. The Rev. Marvin Dobson was the dedication speaker. The building consisted of a sanctuary, fellowship hall, Sunday school classrooms, and office.

In 1977 ministerial candidate Richard Bond of Knoxville Presbytery became the supply pastor of the church. He succeeded the Rev. Nichols. Bond supplied the church through 1980, when the Rev. Leslie Jacobs was called as pastor. Jacobs was replaced in 1984 by Dr. Chris Hardeman, who supplied the church until 1986. In September of that year, the Rev. Oscar Lee Nichols returned to supply the church.

Under the Rev. Nichols leadership, the church again prospered. In 1988, Chattanooga Presbytery commended the Richard City Church for its vision and commitment to the future ministry of the area. The church was also commended for its construction of a lovely new fellowship hall, newly paved sidewalks, and a covered drive through and ramp to facilitate the movement of the disabled.

In 1994 the Richard City church was a charter member in the Tennessee-Georgia Presbytery. This congregation continued to serve God in southeast Tennessee, and Sequatchie Valley along the Tennessee-Alabama state line.

[Source: Gregory, Jr., Conway. A Presbytery Called Chattanooga: Tracing the History of Chattanooga Presbytery, Cumberland Presbyterian Church From 1842 to 1989, pages 452-456]