Landmark United Pentecostal Church

Landmark United Pentecostal Church in Eddiceton, Mississippi, was first known as First United Pentecostal Church, a church started by Rev. H.F. Wilkins and Bro. Ralph and Sis. Dorothy McFarland. In 1966, Rev. Wilkins and Bro. McFarland purchased two lots in Eddiceton to be used for a church. The church started in 1967 on a Sunday morning in Bro. and Sis. McFarland’s living room.

The first small building was built with funds raised by selling peanut brittle, making aprons, and from donations given by generous souls. Rev. Wilkins pastored the congregation in Eddiceton for two years. His successors, Rev. and Sis. Felix Sartin, saw the building of the current auditorium. The Sartins pastored there for three years.

After Rev. and Sis. Sartin, Rev. Ronnie Hall was pastor for about three years, followed by Rev. J.S. Hoyt, Rev. Jones and Rev. Bilms; under whose leadership the building was bricked. Rev. Bob Savell led the congregation next, and during his tenure the parsonage was built. Rev. Savell pastored for three years before Rev. Melvin Davis became pastor. After Rev. Davis, Rev. Darell Collins was pastor for approximately ten years. While the Collins family was there, the church’s name was changed from First United Pentecostal Church to New Life United Pentecostal Church. Also during their tenure, the fellowship hall was built and the church founded a Christian school.

After Rev. Collins and his family left, the church had four other pastors – Rev. Jordan, Rev. Camline, Rev. Stone, and Rev. Laymon. After Rev. Laymon left the church’s doors were closed.

In later years, Rev. Shannon Martin, who was the pastor of Pentecostal Lighthouse Church in nearby Meadville, Mississippi, was listed as pastor of the church although there was no congregation at that location. Pentecostal Lighthouse Church used the facilities for a Christian school.

In 2009, the church in Eddiceton reopened with a new name – Landmark United Pentecostal Church – and Rev. Jessie Givens Jr. filled in as the interim pastor. He and his wife, Sis. Tiffanye Givens, stayed and became the longest-serving pastor in the Eddiceton church to date.

During the years under Rev. Givens’s pastoral leadership, the building has undergone many changes, with the sanctuary and fellowship hall being remodeled and – most notably – a foyer being added.

In 2023, Rev. Givens resigned and Rev. Matthew Powell and his family became pastor of Landmark UPC. The church continues to thrive under the leadership of the Powell family.