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A Chronological List of How Northwest Christian
Church Started & Developed |
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1955, Ohio
Christian Missionary Society (OCMS) contracted a
preliminary study of greater Columbus to select
a site for the new Disciples church. |
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OCMS purchased nearly four-acres
for $25,000 in Perry Township along Fishinger Road. |
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Dec. 1956, Harold Monroe,
Ohio Disciples General Secretary, met with all interested
people in the Columbus Disciples churches to share
plans for a new Disciples church in the northwest
area. |
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Jan. 1957, planning &
organizing committee from various Columbus Disciples
churches was formed. |
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Feb. 10, 1957, first service
of the Tri-Village Christian Church was held in
Kingswood Elementary School on King Avenue. |
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Three months later, the
church was chartered as Northwest Christian Church,
membership 71. |
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May 4, 1958, we were permitted
to move to Fishinger Road Elementary School in Upper
Arlington. We worshiped there for two years while
the church's first units - Fellowship Hall, kitchen
and classrooms were being constructed. |
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OCMS New Church Program
purchased the land, gave us $28,000 as seed money
for the building construction, and paid the salary
of Rev. Paul Payne, our organizing minister for
the first year. |
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Actually we paid 50% of
Rev. Payne's $4,500 salary that year and sent a
check for $100 to the OCMS New Church Program to
help other churches get started. (March 1958 receipts
for March prior to chartering had been about $80)
Budget for the year contained $750 for mission giving. |
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1959. The church was approved
for up to a $70,000 loan. We borrowed $65,000 from
Ohio Disciples Extension Corp. The lowest building
bid was $93,453. Membership was 125. |
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1960. The church budget
was increased from $8,300 to $20,500 which included
a building payment of $7,500. |
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June 7, 1959, we broke
ground for the building. The cornerstone was laid
Sept. 20, 1959. The building was finished and dedicated
March 12, 1960. Rev. Payne's mission was completed.
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We had a beautiful fellowship
hall/sanctuary, kitchen and classrooms to welcome
prospective new members. |
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With a new kitchen, we
had wonderful served dinners for every (and any)occasion.
Finding volunteers for cooking, serving and eating
wasn't a problem. |
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The strong lay leadership
of the founding members from Fourth Avenue, Broad
Street, Wilson Road and Hilltop churches were the
strengths and guidance for the new church. |
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Every member of the church
was involved in some capacity. Our founding minister
was largely a Sunday morning preacher and the congregation
took responsibility for everything else. |
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1960 Rev. John Bean selected
to guide the church in its spiritual and physical
growth. He would provide comments of guidance in
various planning meetings only to be told that his
suggestion had already been taken care of. It was
several months before the minister was able to run
fast enough to get into the lead of the movement
at Northwest Christian. |
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An adult Sunday School
was a strength in the school-house days that grew
in the new building. An initial church policy for
adult church school to meet the needs of the members
was to not have segregated men's or women's or age
classes., identified by a title or teacher name
and be stagnant in membership. Instead, the classes
would be on a subject and interest basis, change
quarterly, and have enrollment open to all. We had
classes on current events or of particular interest
to members of the congregation in addition to standard
Bible series lessons. These classes were frequently
lead by university or community people knowledgeable
on the subject - a strong point in welcoming prospective
members. The Sunday School attendance was close
in size to the worship service. There were Sunday
morning classes in all the classrooms, two classes
in the Fellowship Hall, one class in the kitchen,
one class in the minister's office, and a class
in the baptistry dressing room (presently the NNEMAP
room). |
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Within 3 years of growth
and because of the success of the church school
program, we were able to add additional classrooms.
The annual loan payment of $7,500 for the initial
building section was raised to $8,820 to include
the new classrooms. This was a struggle during the
summer of 1961 when giving was down and the church
had no reserve cash. We were only able to meet the
interest payment on the loan until many of the congregation
returned from their summer vacations. Our budget
grew from $20,500 in 1960 to $30,323 in 1963. The
education unit was dedicated on Feb. 23, 1964 at
a cost of $110,157. |
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The 1965-66 budget was
$41,644 plus $6,160 for the 2nd unit of classrooms. |
| The 1966-67 budget grew
to $56,960, plus $18,060 for the building loans,
plus $4,200 for planning for a new sanctuary. The
congregation now numbered 372. |
| Also in 1967, Rev. John
Bean decided that his task at Northwest Christian
Church had been fulfilled, and he resigned to accept
the call to the Disciple church in Columbus, Indiana.
We were saddened to have John, Julia, and sons,
Keith and Michael, leave; however, he had completed
his mission well and needed a new challenge. |
| From the recommendation
of the pastoral search committee, the congregation
hired Rev. Goodrich to lead the church in its continuing
physical and spiritual growth. With him, he brought
his wife, Darlene and two children, Scott and Darla. |
| Rev. Goodrich had a background
in business prior to entering the ministry, which
contributed to organizing the church on a business
basis with plans to financially fulfill the congregation's
desire for the addition of the worship sanctuary,
offices, and library. Each budget contained money
to be set aside for the fulfillment of that ambition. |
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compiled and shared by
Don Lozier. |
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