Onward ‘Our Country Churches’ reaches impressive mark

This issue marks our 350th that features the popular “Our Country Churches.” When our team redesigned The Cooperator in January 2019, we were determined to only make it better and to retain the character of the magazine that our readers love so much. One of the common sentiments that we heard so many times during the process was what our readers wanted us to keep, rather than to delete. While everyone has their favorite content, the “What’s Cookin’?” recipe section and the “Our Country Churches” feature were among the most mentioned.

Both of those items were created by former Cooperator Editor Jerry Kirk. No person has shaped The Cooperator like Jerry, who oversaw the production of the magazine from the early 1970s until his retirement in 2001.

In the early days of his tenure, he was essentially a one-man staff covering the entire state and serving as editor, writer, and photographer. In the article detailing Jerry’s accomplishments when he received the James B. Walker Cooperative Spirit Award in2012, then Editor Allison Jenkins related Jerry’s thoughts about the new assignment, noting that “Jerry wanted The Cooperator to be something everybody in the state would enjoy. He made a conscious effort to feature as many different farmers and Co-ops as possible, spotlight all types of agricultural operations, and find entertaining stories about places and events in Tennessee. He created the recipe section and the popular “Courthouse Gallery” feature that preceded “Our Country Churches.”

The Courthouse Gallery series was so popular with teachers across the state that they often used it in their classrooms. After the project was complete and all the 95 courthouses were documented, Jerry had copies of each one printed and sent them to anyone who asked. Many educators across the state would have their students write to The Cooperator each year to request copies of the set as they taught Tennessee history. Unfortunately, those sets are long gone now.

After the courthouse project was complete, Jerry came up with the idea to showcase our country churches. He knew how important faith and worship are to so many of our readers, and while there were only 95 courthouses in the state, there are a great many more churches. As The Cooperator writers cover the state, we try to stop when we come across a particularly picturesque church in our travels. And we also occasionally receive contributions from readers that we try to incorporate. The popularity of the feature hasn’t diminished since Jerry started it so long ago.

We’re still gathering church photos as we travel, but we’re also open to contributions from our readers. If you have a church that you would like us to feature, send me a picture and a short history of the church. Unless it was already featured in the past, we’ll try to work it in at the appropriate time. You can email me at gliford@ourcoop.com or via mail at Glen Liford, Communications Department, 180 Old Nashville Highway, La Vergne, TN 37086.

Story by Glen Liford,

Contact gliford@ourcoop.com