History of Oakhurst Full Gospel Church
1947-2017
The story of Oakhurst Full Gospel Church’s origins and how it all began back in 1947.
The small sawmill town of Oakhurst has seen many changes since the first tent revival in 1947. In the early 50’s, the Texas Long Leaf Lumber Company closed the mill. At approximately the same time, the school was closed and the Oakhurst School District was combined with Coldspring I.S.D. The mill stores closed and the doctor moved his practice to Huntsville.
Only one thing remains unchanged. The Church. The name has changed, but God has not and the small mission church dedicated to God 70 years ago continues to be a light in this community. It’s light was made brighter in 1999 with the dedication of the new sanctuary.
To the best of everyone’s memories, the revival held in May of 1947 was the beginning of what would later be called Oakhurst Full Gospel Church. Evangelists Emil and Selma Burger, Rev. Floyd Durham and their party of pastors preached their hearts out and the first revival lasted 5 or 6 weeks. The revival was held across FM 946 on the corner from where the church now stands. The revival proved to be successful with over 100 people being baptized. Some of the pastors would fast and pray for more than seven days in preparation of the revival.
After the revival, Brother Floyd Durham and Brother Paul Carroll pastored for over a year. Also during this time, the land was obtained from Southland Paper Company and construction began on the church which was named Oakhurst Gospel Mission. By 1948, there was a roof and sides put on the old brush harbor and wood shavings on the floor. A group of men working with Brother Burger built the roof and as more money was brought in, they put up the sides of the building.
In August of 1948, the first wedding was held in the church. The beautiful young bride wore a light two-piece suit and wore a lovely corsage. The saw mill shavings posed no problem as the bride strolled down the aisle to her handsome groom. Sister Burger performed the ceremony prior to the Sunday evening church services and presented to the church “Mr. And Mrs. Walter Underwood.”
Around 1950 A.W. “Bill Botard” became the pastor of the church. He and his wife Hattie Bell Hoot Botard had 3 small children at that time, Calvin, Carolyn (Ruth) and Melvin. They would raise 3 more during their time at the church, Melburn, Elton and Sheila.
In the 1960’s restrooms were added to the front of the church and the class rooms were added to the back of the church. Also in the 60’s, visiting preacher William Kelley recommended that the name of the church be changed as it was no longer a mission. The church was then renamed Oakhurst Full Gospel Church.
Also in the 60’s Walter Cooksey became the Assistant Pastor. Walter Cooksey and his brother-in-law Joe Bailey Barnes who described themselves “more like devil’s-in-law” before the revival, described Oakhurst as “pretty wild and woolly. They supposedly came down the road and flipped a coin to decide whether to go out drinking or go see what “them church people” were doing. The coin flipped in God’s favor and both men were saved that night at the revival. Brother Cooksey became a pastor and evangelist working with the young, first time offenders in the Texas Department of Corrections at the Ferguson Unit in Midway, Texas and Brother Barnes became the pastor of the First Assembly of God Church in Huntsville. He was there for 40 years before retiring.
Bill Botard and Walter Cooksey co-pastored the church through the 60’s and 70’s and early 80’s. Brother Botard bought property in Arkansas and went back and forth a lot for several years. Brother Cooksey became the pastor and resigned as pastor in 1984 due to poor health. He and his wife, Molly Louise Barnes Cooksey had 3 children, Carolyn, Glenn and Reagan. Reagan is pastor of Northside Baptist in Riverside/Huntsville and Glenn is the pastor here.
Brother Bill continued to preach when he was in Texas and there were many other preachers who filled in. One such preacher was Roy Botard, Brother Bill Botard’s youngest brother. Brother Roy was saved during a tent revival (these were held every year during “camp meetings” and was “on fire”. Brother Bill resigned in 1989 and moved permanently to Arkansas.
There were two interim pastors, David Barker and W.J. Smith until a permanent pastor could be found. In October, 1989, Charles and Margaret Denman came to lead the services and then again in January, 1990. In September, 1990, Brother Denman became the pastor of Oakhurst Full Gospel Church.
The church we are now in was started in February of 1998 and the services began in the new building in March of 1999. The first wedding to take place in the new sanctuary was Darrell Mitchum and Aimee Botard (a granddaughter of Brother Bill Botard) on March 27, 1999.
The new church building was established with the support of church members and volunteers from the church community working with the dedicated efforts and leadership of Pastor Charles Denman. The architect of the building and changes and updates to the old church building were made by Melvin Botard and his crew with Botard Construction along with Brother Denman and volunteers from the church.
The new church building was dedicated at the homecoming services on June 6, 1999.
Glenn and Joanna Cooksey were called to pastor Oakhurst Full Gospel Church in October 2007. In January, 2008 Glenn and Joanna moved to Oakhurst, Texas and became full time residents of Oakhurst.
This year in 2017 the church has added the AWANA program to reach out to kids in the community. God continues to move in this church.
