In the year 1925 a part time preacher named Wilson Herron moved from Nashville, Tennessee to Jacksonville. Brother Herron worked for a firm that manufactured attic and window fans. The company’s sales manager was Brother Jesse Elder who attended services at the Riverside Park congregation. At this time the Riverside Park congregation was the only group of the Lord’s people meeting in Jacksonville. Brother Herron had not been in Jacksonville long before he saw the need for a congregation of the church on the North side of town. 

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After several months the elders of the Riverside Park congregation decided to help start a congregation in that area of Jacksonville. They purchased a tent and erected it on the Northeast corner of Eighth Street and Market Street. The first service of the Springfield church of Christ was held on April 10th, 1927 with approximately 30 members present. The tent was used as a meeting place by the Springfield church of Christ for approximately one and a half years. Brother Herron served as the preacher, Brother Murphy Smiley the song leader and Brother Goodson the church treasurer. The tent was rendered unfit for a meeting place as the result of a serious storm. When the tent became unfit, the congregation rented a building at the corner of Ninth Street and Liberty Street.