The Gazette
October 5, 1939

One of Union Parish’s oldest preachers, the Rev. S. R. Nolan of Antioch community, recently celebrated 58 years of preaching in Union Parish.

This unusual record was achieved by Rev. Nolan on the fourth Saturday in August. He began his preaching career on the fourth Saturday in August, 1881, when he delivered his first sermons at the Shady Grove Baptist church.

Though he started delivering sermons in 1881, the Rev. Nolan did not get his first call until 1888.

He has served the following churches: Erad, Perrin, Concord, Antioch, Pleasant Hill, Enterprise and Antioch, again.

As he put it, “I have preached from the banks of the Mississippi to Texas”.

He estimates the number of couples he has married at “about 500”.

The doctrine he follows in his work, Rev. Nolan explained as, “I think a preacher ought to believe and know what he believes and know what he believes before he goes out and tries to preach to other people.”