The church had its beginnings in the organization of the Pleasant Grove Church, New Harmony on September 23, 1843. Then on May 15, 1852, at the direction of the Union Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church, a number of the Pleasant Grove congregation met and formed the New Hope Church, Pontotoc County, at Ellistown. After the Civil War, in 1870, Union County was formed from parts of Pontotoc and Tippah Counties with a little more land added a few years later from Lee County.
In May 1872 the session met and appointed a building committee to work with a committee from the Masons to build a joint church house and lodge. The Masons inhabited the upper floor and the church the ground floor. A resolution was adopted by the session on September 1, 1873 to request Presbytery to change the name of this church from New Hope to Ellistown. This request apparently was not granted.
On June 5, 1875 the congregation selected a site next to a graveyard near the home of B. B. Strain. B. B. Strain and J. H. Strain gave 2 acres of land for the cemetery and B. F. McWhorter gave 2 acres of land for the church site which is now in the newly formed Union County. The previous request for a name change was not granted, but November 1876, the New Hope Church was granted a name change, and it was henceforth to be known as the Fairfield Church. The last minutes of the New Hope Church session was dated June 24, 1877.
A number of Fairfield members formed a church at Blue Springs. The church was located on the east side of today’s state road 9. A manse was located across the road on the west side. After a storm damaged the church building in Blue Springs, the two sessions met on September 24, 1905 to unite the congregations of Blue Springs and Fairfield. This action was completed by the Presbytery of Bell in December 1905.
In 1906 a reunion occurred between the old northern Presbyterian Church and the Cumberland Presbyterians. Some of the Cumberlands changed their minds and re-established the Cumberland Church. Fairfield was one of the churches that took part in the reunion. We were then members of the Presbyterian Church in the USA.
The session met on July 12, 1956 and voted to build a new church building. The Masons agreed to deed their interest in any of the land and the old building to the church. Destruction of the old structure was set to begin on November 15, 1956 with the congregation meeting in a tent. A bid for materials was accepted from Gravelee Lumber Co. of Tupelo. Grants were received from the Presbyterian Church, USA Board of National Missions. Funds were also raised by members who set aside a portion of their land and gave the proceeds from those crops to the church. Others got together and rented property to farm just for the purpose. The new building was dedicated on the fifth Sunday of June 1957.
On July 22, 1960 the session voted to build a new manse. The Rev. Joe Davis was the first pastor to occupy the new manse. During the 124th anniversary celebration in 1967, Rev. E. E. Stidham stated that there were only four cars on the road in this area at the time he lived in the manse at Blue Springs. He would drive his Model T Ford to the Fairfield Church, and when it rained there would only be one rut in which to drive. When another car was met, one of the drivers would usually have to back up for a long distance to let the other pass. Also Rev. J. Leslie Bell recalled that during the depression of 1929 when times were hard, he was paid one year’s salary with 80 gallons of sorghum molasses, two loads of wood (which he helped to cut), and all the garden produce he could eat.
In July 1983 plans were being made for an activities building and in 1984 a loan was secured and a 60 ft. x 100 ft. metal building was constructed on the east side of the church, just north of the manse. This building has a large recreation area, kitchen and dining area, restrooms and classrooms located upstairs over the kitchen and dining area. The activities that were made possible with the construction of the building has been a great blessing to the members of this church and community.
The year 1993 marked the 150th anniversary of this congregation with many events held throughout the year. In April a new front door was installed and later dedicated at the September Homecoming Service. May of that year the St. Andrew Presbytery was invited to hold it meeting here with over 150 delegates and guests attending. In September special anniversary and homecoming services were held. These services were held on the 23rd, 24th, 25th and concluded with the Homecoming Day service held September 26, 1993. Also 100 commemorative plates depicting drawings of the last two church buildings were made available in celebration of the 150th anniversary.
Present day Fairfield Presbyterian Church is still making strides to move forward with God’s work. With community projects such as the community storm shelters. Also the future completion of the Toyota Automobile plant in nearby Blue Springs will provide even more evangelism opportunities in a growing community.