Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 32

Church members Charles Harlow, left, and Tim Reinbott hold a model of the original log church. Behind them is the present church.
The Church with
the Red Roof
Red Top Church celebrates 200 faith-filled years
by Jim McCarty | jmccarty@ruralmissouri.coop
I
n the early days of Missouri's statehood, pioneers who poured into the wilderness
brought their faith with them. There were no churches then, so as
soon as the settlers built homes they set about creating places of worship.
Typical of those early churches was the one that served the faithful just west
of Hallsville. It started in the homes of its founders, hardy stock mostly from
Kentucky. Then in 1820 its members cut logs from the woods to build their first
church on land donated by Nathan Roberts.
Two years later the church was chartered as a Christian Church when Elders
William L. Roberts and Thomas McBride issued the following statement: We
the undersigned subscribers being all to Examine the abilities of the brethren of
Rocky Fork Prairie find them in our opinion sound in faith and sufficiently strong
in member to constitute a Church of Christ at this place have done so upon the
Gospel having no other creed or confession of faith.
That was the start of Red Top Christian Church, which will celebrate its
200th anniversary on Oct. 2. In establishing the church, which has been served
by Boone Electric Cooperative since 1938, its founders set roots that over time
32 RURAL MISSOURI | OCTOBER 2022
grew deep into the Boone County soil.
Their descendants remain strong in
their faith. As the 200th anniversary
committee related in the book published
for the event, " Through the
years Red Top has been a place where
those in our community can empty
themselves of their burdens while
worshipping our God. "
Where once circuit-riding ministers
made stops at the church, today's
congregation can watch its services
streaming live on YouTube. They
retain a link to the past by lovingly
maintaining the cemetery, which
holds the remains of its founders,
including John Hall, namesake for
Hallsville. Yet they continue to look
to the future by adding to the current
church, making it more useful for the
active congregation.
" They called it the church in the
wilderness because all the area
around here got to be farmland, but
this stayed a wilderness, " says Tim
Reinbott, a church elder and member
of the Red Top Church Bicentennial
Committee.
When the log church was completed
it was christened Liberty
Church, a name it would keep until
1868. It was the first church built in

Rural Missouri - October 2022

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