Weekly Devotional

FULL CIRCLE

A young teenager by the name of Joyce Edgerton attended the Big Spring Methodist Church not far from her home in a small Tennessee town called Cleveland. She always walked to church every time the doors were open…rain, sleet, snow, shine…you know the drill. The love of God was evident in her life.

While attending Bradley Central High School, Joyce met three orphans from the local Church of God Orphanage. The first girl had the last name of Edwards, the other was a Ledford, but there seems to be some uncertainty about the name of the third child. (Perhaps someone reading this entry will recognize the name of the other orphan and let us know about their journey.)

After weeks of invitations, the threesome convinced Joyce to go to the North Cleveland Church of God with them where she would discover fervent singing and dynamic preaching. Soon Joyce would give her life to Christ and later meet a young man by the name of Walter Mauldin, Sr. who was attending Lee College.

Their courtship included dating, home visits, phone calls, and some long distance letter writing while Walter evangelized during the summer. Finally Joyce and Walter were married. They would raise three children (Danna, Walt and Gale) and serve in ministry together in Georgia, Kentucky, Virginia, Alabama, and South Carolina. For seven of those years, they served as the State Youth Director of Kentucky. While pastoring in South Carolina, Walter died of a heart attack in 1987. Joyce would later marry Artis Jones of Lavonia, a small town in northeast Georgia. The Mauldin and Jones families lived in this quaint community for over a century. After traveling throughout the country and overseas together, Joyce’s husband, Artis, also died.

In 2014, Joyce’s son, Dr. Walt Mauldin, was appointed as the Executive Director of the Smoky Mountain Children’s Home, which was formerly the Church of God Orphanage. A few months later, Joyce moved from Lavonia, Georgia to the SpiritCare Center in Sevierville, Tennessee, which is next door to the Smoky Mountain Children’s Home.

Can you imagine? Here were three orphans back in the 1940s who thought they were merely inviting a classmate to attend church with them and nothing more. Little did they know the person they were inviting would end up having a son who would become the director of The Home. God orders our steps, according to Psalm 37:23.

An invitation of three young orphan girls seemed to play an integral role in influencing the future leadership of the Smoky Mountain Children’s Home. However, it was a part of God’s plan all along.

From one orphanage to another, this story has certainly come full circle.

Dr. Walt Mauldin, Executive Director

Tammie Mauldin, Public Relations & Development Director

NEW HISTORICAL SIGNAGE

Smoky Mountain Children’s Home

The City of Sevierville selected the Smoky Mountain Children's Home to receive its very first historical sign. These large displays are being made available to visitors throughout the community to educate the public regarding significant sites.

This would not have been possible without the assistance of Sevier County Historian Carroll McMahan and the financial support of Ron and Betty Ogle.

The text on the signage reads as follows:

On December 17, 1920, four children were placed in the care of an appointed matron, Lillian Kinsey, in a small frame house in Cleveland, Tennessee. This was the beginning of the Church of God’s ministry to orphaned children. For the next 29 years, the Church of God Orphanage remained in Cleveland where it continued to flourish in various locations.

In 1949, the orphanage relocated to Sevierville, on property that served as the campus of Murphy Collegiate Institute from 1923 to 1935. The site was purchased from the heirs of M.P. Thomas Sr., a grandson of Isaac Thomas, who was Sevierville’s first permanent white settler. The land was subsequently purchased by the Church of God at public auction in 1937 and used as the Bible Training School from 1937 to 1948. The school moved back to the city of its founding, Cleveland, Tennessee, and over time changed its name to Lee College, and later Lee University.

In its zenith, around 300 children lived on campus. As the needs of the children in placement changed, the structure of care also changed. In 1962, the name changed to Church of God Home for Children. That same year, the social work and counseling services were added to address the needs of the children more efficiently.

Notable improvements include the demolition of the dormitories that had been built by Murphy Collegiate Institute, and replaced with eleven family cottages, situated on streets named for notable personalities throughout the home’s history.

Some of the children sang in the choir that traveled around the region and performed on a local television station. Others enjoyed the indoor pool or gym, which was also used on occasion for roller skating. They were educated on campus by teachers furnished by the Sevier County Board of Education through the eighth grade, and then attended Sevier County High School.

In 2000, the name was officially changed again to the Church of God Smoky Mountain Children’s Home, as it is known today. The organization has developed into a modern, group care facility featuring residential, foster care, independent living, adoption, and Alpha School programs.

Dedicated in 1923, the original Murphy Collegiate Institute Administration Building with its distinctive tower remains the flagship structure of the campus.