. bl!1i- ;Retired Baptist Minister Paul Nickens Dies at 82

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1 CUPPING SERVICE 1115 HILLSBORO IJ. RALEIGH. NC ti/ TEL (919) THE Pll,,)T ~UTHERN Pit es, N. MAR 4. bl!1i- ;Retired Baptist Minister Paul Nickens Dies at 82 The Rev. Paul Burton Nickens, 82, retired Baptist minister of Southern Pines, died Thursday, Feb. 29, at Moore Regional Hospital in Pinehurst. Funeral service was conducted at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Powell Chapel in Southern Pines. Burial was at Pinelawn Memorial Park. A retired Baptist minister, Mr. Nickens served for over 40 years in churches in Murfreesboro, Henderson and Plymouth. He served as in-,.' terim minister for several churches in the Moore County area. He was a Tar Heel of the Week in the Raleigh News and Observer in the early,60s. Mr. Nickens was a graduate of Southeastern Seminary (1958), and served as chaplain in the Army-Aircorps in WWII. Survivors include his wife, Ruth T. Nickens; one son, Paul B. Nickens Jr. of Centreville, Va.; two grandchildren and two greatgrandchildren. Memorials may be made to a charity of one's choice. Arrangements were by Powell Funeral Home of Southern Pines.

2 CLIPPING SERVICE 1115 HILLSBORO IJ. RALEIGH. NC l:i/ TEL. (919) ROA.~u.':': PLYMOUTH, N.C. MAR ~ Rev. Paul B.,;"q \ Nickens, Sr. PINEHURST - Rev. Paul Burton Nickens, Sr., 82, died February 29, 1996 at Moore Regional Hospital in Pinehurst. Rev. Nickens was born in Calypso and educated at Wake Forest University and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest. He retired, having served for over 40 years as a Baptist Minister. He served churches in Henderson, in Plymouth for over 30 years, Murfreesboro Baptist Church, being on the faculty at Chowan College during this time. Rev. Nickens was pastor of Ludford Memorial Baptist Church, now known as First Baptist Church for more than three decades. He served as an Army Air Corps Chaplain during World War II. In the Sandhills Association for the past decade, he has held many interim pastorates and been the pulpit guest in most of the Baptist churches of the area. He was a Tarheel of the Week in the early 1960s and retired to the Southern Pines area in Survivors include his wife, Ruth T. Nickens; one son, Paul B. Nickens, Jr. of Centreville, Va.; two grandchildren and two great grandchildren. A funeral was conducted at Powell Chapel on Sunday, March 3. Interment followed at Pinel awn Memorial Park. Memorials may be made to a charity of one's choice. Arrangements by Powell Funeral Home of Southern Pines..._

3 CLIPPING SERVICE 1115 HILLSBORO RALEIGH, NC TEL. (919) THE PILOT SOUTHERN PINES, N. C.. Baptists Give Honors Here To Pastors A covered dish supper was held Saturday evening beginning at 6:30 in Fellowship Hall of Carthage First Baptist Church to honor the Rev. aud Mrs P..aul. N.!.k..en He served as interim pastor of the local church for five months, and also to welcome the new pastor and wife, the Rev. James B. Gibson. W.C. Walton, chairman of the Deacons, made a few brief remarks of welcome to the group present. Walton pointed out purpose of the event and also to say thanks to the Interim-Pastor. The Search Committee was composed of Fleet Allen, Curtis Presley and Tommy McKenzie. Everyone was given the opportunity to meet the Rev. and Mrs. Nickens and to express their thanks to them for the service he rendered the church in the interim period. The invocation was given by Pastor James Gibson. There was plenty of food, and good fellowship.

4 Nickens, Paul Burton b. d. Res. Data: m. h; w; s; dau; of: Other: b. d. Photograph SOURCE: B/ /T21, Page: 120

5 ~J{ens To Speak AtFirst ~RP~t Church's evivai Monday will be the opening day of the spring revival at the First Baptist Church. Rev. Paul B. Nickens will deliver the evening messages and, conduct the morning Bible studies. Rev. Mr. Nickens is pastor of the Ludford Memorial Baptist Church at Plymouth where he has served for twenty three' years. He is a native of North Carolina and received his B. A. degree from Wake Forest College and his B. D. degree from Southeastern Seminary. While in college he served as as- I sistant to Dr. George W. Paschal in the Department of Greek and later served as assistant to Dr. Olin T. Binkley in the Department of Ethics and Sociology at Southeastern Seminary. Rev. Mr. Nickens is a member of the general board of the North Carolina Baptist State Convention. The evening services will begin at 7:45 o'clock Monday through Friday, with the Sunday services being at 11 a. m. and 7:30 p, m. In the Bible Study period, which will be held at 10 a. m. Tuesday through Friday in the prayer meeting room, Mr. Nickens wi I I be teaching the Book of Philippians. Kannapcrrs Jl1.QC:Pt=lO,,-_n,. Kins ton Free Press Lenoir News TOPIC Lexington Dispatch Lumberton Robesonian Morganton News-Herald New Bern Sun-Journal Raleigh News & Observer Raleigh Times Reidsville Review J :","",;-, ru,;~oo,~, J"~~ MAR

6 ~.Says God Has I\ey J6 Life for AIV'. Asking and answering the question "Does God really matter today?" Rev. Paul Nickens of Plymouth delivered the third in a stirring series of revival messages to a large congregation at the First Baptist Church Wednesday nighr.1tis topic for Thursday night will be "The Amazing Message of The Cross." The Chapel Choir, directed by Minister of Music Herbert Joyner, rendered an anthem from its spring concert program, "I, Love Thee." Pastor Gordon Conklin presided and announced the schedule of church school sponsors for the next two services. Mr. Nickens opened his discourse with a word picture of I today's world in which it appears to many that God and religion are passe' and out of date. He emphasized that some feel that science and advanced technical knowledge make the matters of religion and the church inadequate for today's world. He likened the church, in the eyes of some, to a vine whose roots had been cut. He touched on the fact that if God doesn't matter, then many important things in today's world must be discarded with Him, including prayer, the Bible, Christian worship and all.the fe1lowshlp of believers that : still exists among the faithful. I The minister cited the dangers of today's world for young people, in the dirty "adult" movies, the liquor traffic" the pornographic literature and other things that flourish to the weakening of the church and its influe.nce. He closed with a re-affirmation of the importance of God all of life, quoting from gospel account of the of the vine and its orancnes. The Master emphasized in that account that apart from God man is nothing, but is cut off to die. But with Him there is life, salvation and even to the promise of eternal, the minister declared...._u'...e..,.,_.,-o..."...'"'r'...~ " t<jnston Free Press Lenoi r News-Topic Lexington Dispatch Lumberton Robesonian Morganton News- Herald New Bern Sun-Journal Raleigh News & Observer Raleigh Times Reidsville Review Rockingham: * ~=-~

7 ROUNDING OUT A CENTURY OF SERVICE 65 church's commitment vision and set the P. D. Sewell notes including Chowan years the organiby $ i The of the Murfreesboro to Ruth McDowell local WMS group to the memory of y of those stalwart on behalf of their In memory of this blessed one Who served her Master well, And ne'er did think her task was done Until His message she did tell: We pledge anew to do our best, To proclaim His word with greater zest. And, then, when traveling days are o'er, May we, with her, enter into eternal rest. 3i It remained for Bunn's successor in the Murfreesboro pastoratethe Reverend P. B. Nicken~ - to preside over the occasion commemorative of the liquidation of the indebtedness incurred in the 1920s. A grand occasion it was to be, for the church had determined to combine a service of dedication of the debt-free building with a centennial celebration.f Highlighting the event would be the public burning of the last notes of indebtedness. A participant prepared the following account of this grand event: The Baptist Church of Murfreesboro, N. C., was dedicated on Sunday December 13, On the previous Sunday, Dec. 6,1942, the last dollar of the indebtedness was raised by the members of the church. What a glorious hour it was when we realized that the church debt was paid. No longer would we be compelled to work burdened down by a huge load of debt. At last we had shaken off the shackles and our shoulders were free. Thus it was that on the second Sunday in December 1942 the church was officially dedicated to the service of the following. $ in 1930; $ in in 1938; and through the WMS 3s/bid. ~36Paul Burton Nickens (1913- ) who had graduated from Wake Forest College in 1937, was serving the Ludford Memorial Baptist Church, Plymouth, North Carolina, at the time of his call to Murfreesboro. He returned to Ludford Memorial in 1944, where he continued as pastor - except for a brief period during his days at the Southeastern Baptist Seminary - until his retirement in The year 1942 marked the one hundredth anniversary of the "setting

8 ROUNDING OUT A CENTURY OF SERVICE 67 choirs. The attention was excellent, and everyone was concious of the deep spirituality of the entire service. A letter, read by the pastor, from one of our members in the armed forces, showed that even those boys who could not be with us were thinking about the service. It was truly an hour of worship that shall not be soon forgotten. Let us not forget that this service was made possible through the goodness of God, and through the loyal cooperation of all the members and friends of the church. 38 The church experienced significant growth during Nickens' ministry with her. Total membership had reached 318 by October Woman's Missionary Union reported 109 members in her several unit organizations in late 1941, with Mrs. C. C. Lawrence serving as president. The Sunday School reported an average weekly attendance of 100 in 1942; 126, in With indebtedness a thing of the past, gifts to non-local missions increased from $ in 1942 to $1, in aj But Nickens' ministry in Murfreesboro was soon cut short bythe call to a different kind of service. He announced his resignation as pastor on June 20, 1943, to be effective on July 11, "having entered the service of the Government as an Army Chaplain.''40 Reluctantly, the church voted to accept the resignation, "hoping that when he returned from the Army as a chaplain, that he would return to us and finish his work.,>11 The first century of service of the Murfreesboro Baptist Church as a duly constituted body - apart from the "branch" relationship to Meherrin - was completed with the ministry of 1. L. Jones,42 who 38This account, written by P. B. Nickens, is found appended to the Minutes of Church Conference, after October 25, All data in this paragraph are taken from the annual reports to the West Chowan Baptist Association. 40 Minutes, June 20, /bid. 42Junius Linwood Jones ( ) had attended Wake Forest College, He was called to the Murfreesboro Church from the pastorates of the Rose Hill and Kenansville churches (Eastern Association). The remaining

9 ,. /) 68 ROUNDING OUT A CENTURY OF SERVICE began his services on the first Sunday in December of Once more, the pastor and his wife assumed significant leadership roles in the life of the congregation. In addition to his regular pastoral responsibilities, Jones served as Director of the Training Union, Mrs. Jones directed the church choir program. Though the indebtedness on the church building had been paid, work remained to be done with regard to furnishings and fixtures adequate to the services of a growing congregation. Word was received in 1944 that through the estate of Mrs. W. B. Edwards, the church had been left a gift of $ to be used as payment on the purchase of a pipe organ, to be a "W. B. Edwards Memorial.,>tJ In late 1945 the church authorized her Finance Committee to sign a contract for the building of a 2 manual Moeller organ, pending the acceptability of a definite price. 44 In May 1944 the church voted to spend an additional $2, on repairs and fixtures.f In September 1946 pews were ordered for the side alcoves to the main sanctuary, replacing the moveable chairs which had been used in these areas in former years.46 In late 1947 the church purchased and installed a new hot air furnace at a cost of some $3, '----7 Paul Nickens did not return to the pastorate of the Murfreesboro Church, but he did return for a series of meetings in the fall of Attendance upon these meetings was reported as "very large." By the conclusion of the services, 32 persons had been received as candidates for membership in the church. It had truly been a season of revival.''18 days of his ministry after leaving Murfreesboro were spent among churches in the Johnston and Robeson associations. 43Minutes, February 20, /bid., December 16, The church later voted to purchase a less expensive Hammond electric organ, rather than the Moeller. 4s/bid., May 21, /bid., September 22, nlbid., September 28, /bid., October 12, The scheduling of an annual "revival" meeting had been customary since the early days of the twentieth century. "Revival" meetings or "protracted" meetings were not as frequent prior to that time. Iht' Jones