North Little Rock / Arkansas / United States
About levy Levy Baptist Church has stood for One Hundred years as a beacon of light in North Little Rock, Arkansas. It is a church which belongs to the Lord of the Universe, and to the many hundreds of His human children whose feet have crossed its threshold in this past century, bringing their joys, grief, fears, hopes, and frustrations, and laying them down in the quite peace of His sanctuary. The congregation known as Levy Baptist came to life on September 16, 1906, through the missionary efforts of Protestant pioneer Reverend W.M. Wright and the church he pastored, Baring Cross Baptist. A young Ouachita College ministerial student, Rev. Wright took charge of the jurisdiction God had assigned to him and entered upon a life of hardship, sacrifice, and unremitting toil. Argenta was purely a mission field, with a few scattered congregations very feeble both in means and numbers, and far removed from one another. Baptist visitations involved great labor, fatigue and exposure. Only a young man could undertake the work. The result was two churches made so very strong. Rev. Wright began his work of establishing a church in Levy with a revival which he preached in the Levy Post Office. From newspaper articles reporting on his preaching, we can know that Rev. Wright had a fine speaking voice; his sermons were wonderful and inspiring, and his messages enthusiastically received. After Wright came the service of pastors W.T. King, Rev. Strickland, J.I. Causey, G.W. Jones, Robert Dean, J.H. Reynolds, J.B. Searcy, S.F. Cook, Joseph F. Green, W.M. Jones, W.E. Best, J.H. Smith, Homer B. Reynolds, Lonnie Meacham, and G.W. Blankenship. The ministry of the sixteenth pastor of Levy Baptist, Rev. O.A. Greenleaf, is the longest in the churchs history, and to those of the congregation who were privileged to know him, his memory is still fresh and shining and beloved. Bro. Greenleaf led the church to establish and build the Forty-Seventh Street Baptist Church which was constituted in 1948. His twenty years, 1931-1951, were marked with great prosperity. The present sanctuary, completed in 1952, was dedicated by the still new pastor, W.Harry Hunt, in a service that was deeply interesting. The church was beautifully decorated with growing flowers; and the music by a large and well-trained choir was excellent. Rev. Hunt was an articulate speaker and energetic young man and hed crowned his congregation with a new building. Pastor Hunt extended a cordial welcome to all who desired to attend the services in the new sanctuary. Rev. L. Alfred Sparkman came to the church in 1965 and would serve until 1977. His work was constant, loving, personal in all the details of the church life. After first meeting Rev. Sparkman, Pastor Tiner was asked of a layman what he thought of him. He responded, "he has a smile as warm as his heart". The name of James L. Ryan was placed in nomination in 1978 and he was elected the churchs 20th pastor. Unfortunately for the church, his ministry was to be of only a few months duration. Not since before Rev. Greenleafs tenure, which began in the early 30s, had a pastor left so soon. The young pastor had so endeared himself to this congregation in his few months of service that there was a tremendous protest over the idea of his leaving. Being unable to ignore the greater opportunity for service offered him in the larger denominational work, however, he accepted the call. When, in 1979, the congregation of Levy Baptist found themselves placed with the task of replacing an eloquent and dynamic young pastor like Dr. Ryan, for a time they were at a loss where to turn. However, after considering many possibilities, and hearing many sermons, their choice fell upon the Rev. Otto Brown of Illinois. Dr. Ryans leaving had left the church a little lifeless; a general lethargy prevailed. It could be said that the church was in depression at losing so faithful a minister. The answer would be to call a clergyman who could bring new lif
