Goodway - Marks

The history of Goodway United Pentecostal Church in Marks, in the Locke Station community, begins in the summer of 1939. At 81 years old, Goodway is one of the oldest Pentecostal churches in Northwest Mississippi.

Goodway began with a burden by Clint Spears, after his wife, Icey, received the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Clint’s brother, Zacky, already a Pentecostal minister, told his brother about a preacher named Reverend J.E. Anderson, who was preaching a revival in Kosciusko, Mississippi. Years later, both Reverend Zacky Spears and his son, Doyle Spears, would return to Locke Station and hold revivals for Goodway.

Together, Brother and Sister Clint Spears and Brother and Sister C.W. Hawkins went to Kosciusko and met with Brother and Sister Anderson, requesting they come and hold services, to see if they felt the call to build a church in the Locke Station Community.

Brother and Sister Anderson agreed to come and stay with the Spears Family. After conducting a series of services, Brother and Sister Anderson went home to take care of some business and gather personal belongings. When they returned, they stayed in the home of Ed and Annie Lamb, while a lot was cleared off and a brush arbor was built next to their home. Lit by kerosene lamps and furnished with make-shift benches, the accommodations were crude; nevertheless, God moved marvelously. Enduring the heat of the summer and the buzzing of mosquitoes, Brother and Sister Anderson preached and prayed and began seeing souls filled with the Holy Ghost.

According to the personal journal of Beulah Jones, 37 received the Holy Ghost and 50 were baptized in Jesus' name! The journal entry was dated August 17, 1939.

Brother Anderson, following the lead of the Holy Ghost, became Pastor and remained for about eight years. The early years were filled with much sacrifice and great revival. It was remembered that Brother Anderson had one white shirt which Sister Anderson washed and ironed every day for service that night.

In October of 1939, Brother and Sister Anderson moved in with Brother and Sister Mike Newsom while a parsonage was being built. Sister Gertie Spears wrote in a journal that her father, Clint, her brother, Edley, and other men of the church would cut trees from the church property and take the logs to the saw mill to cut them into planks for the parsonage for the Andersons to live in.

The home was finished on December 21, 1939, and Brother and Sister Anderson, with their daughters, Eva Mae, Louise, and Willie Evelyn, moved in. Once the home was built, it was also used as a church.

In 1940, the first church was built, and the first service was held December 14, 1940. It was then that Pastor Anderson named the church, Goodway Pentecostal Church. The name was later changed to Goodway United Pentecostal Church.

In 1947, Pastor Anderson resigned from the church, and Brother Thomas Latta was elected, where he remained for about a year. Brother Latta was followed by Pastors C.A. Johnson and W.O. McCoin, each pastoring about two years.
Under the leadership of Pastor J.W. Garland (1951 to 1954), Goodway’s fifth pastor, the church building was added onto, creating much-needed additional space. During these years, the church grew exponentially, continually setting records, which remain to this day. Brother Garland was followed by Pastor Jimmy Jones, who pastored for one year.
In 1955, Reverend Mike Newsome became Goodway’s seventh Pastor, where he remained until 1957, when he resigned to begin a work in Batesville. Goodway’s pulpit, from 1957 to 1960, would be filled by Reverend J.E. Nolan and Reverend Archie Allen.

Following Allen was R.L. Tolbert, who pastored from 1960 to 1964. In 1961, Brother Tolbert, Goodway’s tenth pastor, built a new church. The building exists to this day. Pastor Tolbert went on to build several other churches during his long ministry. Pastor Tolbert was followed by Reverend Richard Forsythe, who pastored from 1964 to 1966.
Reverend Donald Knight and family moved to the Locke Station Community in 1966, assuming the Pastorate of the church. During his four-year tenure at Goodway, a new parsonage was built. In 1970, Brother Knight resigned from Goodway to begin a work in Stone Mountain, Georgia.

In the seven years after Pastor Donald Knight, Goodway was pastored by Frank Williamson, 1970 to 1975, Howard Smith, 1975 to 1976, and Glenn Washington, 1976 to 1977.

From 1977 to 1981, Goodway was pastored by Reverend John Howell. Among other accomplishments, the parsonage was remodeled and converted to a fellowship hall.

Following Howell, from 1981 to 1996, serving Goodway as Pastor were Johnny Tullos, Sr., 1981, Raymond McMorris, 1982 to 1986, Ronald Cox, 1986 to 1987, and Daniel Jordan, 1987 to 1996.

Very early in 1996, once again, Goodway was in search of a pastor. Goodway had 20 pastors in 57 years. In May 1996, after preaching Goodway’s fifty-seventh Homecoming service, Brother and Sister Mike Dutton and their family became the church’s twenty-first pastor.

God soon began blessing the church. Pastor Dutton revived the Bible Quizzing program, and the first year, the church’s Bible quiz team placed second in the North American Bible Quiz Tournament. Also, by the end of their first year, Goodway was recognized for its contribution to the Foreign Missions Division.

Through the sacrifice of the saints, many improvements have been made along the way, including a new fellowship hall in 2002.

In seven of the past ten years, Goodway has been recognized for its Global Missions giving, being in the Top 20 Per Capita in the UPCI.

In January of 2020, the church was hit by a tornado and severely damaged, but has since been repaired. Also, in May of 2020, Pastor and Sister Dutton marked 24 years at Goodway.

In 2021, Goodway elected Rev. & Sis. Allan Killman as pastor. Then, on March 7th, 2025, Goodway installed Rev. & Sis. Brian Billingsley as pastor.

Through the years, Goodway has impacted thousands of lives and remains a lighthouse for this community.