A BRIEF HISTORY of the Belle Congregation
	The Church of Christ at Belle, West Virginia really began on May 9, 1937 with an afternoon preaching service by Brother H. W. Bankes in the Bartlett and Wynn’s Funeral Home Chapel. The following Sunday, May 16, 1937, regular services were begun there. The following persons were charter members of the congregation.
					Ella Peck Macil Ward Lonnie Peck H.C. Sprinkle Marion A. Smith Gladys Smith
			Russell Chambers Martha Chambers Pearl Douglas Hubert L. Peck L. Mae Peck Elijah Peck
		Russell Chambers was the songleader, Hubert Peck was chosen as treasurer and Marion Smith served as preacher and teacher. On June 17, 1937, two lots on the corner of Kanawha Street and Central Avenue were purchased as a meeting house site. H. C. Sprinkle, Russell Chambers and Elijah Peck were selected as trustees. In May, 1938, the church purchased a house from the DuPont Company, dismantled it and used the material to construct a meeting house. The building was completed in July of 1938 and the church moved to the new location. In August, 1938, the first gospel meeting (3-weeks) was conducted with W. H. Gallagher preaching. Seven were baptized and four were restored. During the period of 1937 to 1945 (except for three months with John E. Crosslin in 1942) the church work was carried on without a located preacher. The preaching was done by Marion Smith, with various other preachers filling in when he was not available. In the spring of 1940, two classrooms and a baptistry were added to the church building. Pews were installed during 1942. During the war period there was a continuous turnover of the membership with new members added and old ones moving away. The membership by number at any given time was not a true indication of the progress being made. In late 1944, the church decided to have a full-time preacher. As a result, June 1, 1945 saw the arrival of Brother R. E. Peden. To date, we have an attendance of 75-80. Our last charter member, L. Mae Peck died on June 8, 1999.