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In January of 1903 about 75 people met in the Chester
County Court House and formed the first congregation of the Henderson Church
of Christ. A. G. Freed and A. M. St. John were named as the first elders, N.
B. Hardeman, J. A. Ward, A. G. Freed and W. T. Hardeman were trustees. Dr.
John B. Hardeman, father of N. B. Hardeman, gave a building lot on the
corner of Crook Avenue and Second Street where the meeting house was built.
It was a rather small white structure, furnished with walnut pews and a
baptistry under the stage.
By the mid-twenties the congregation had outgrown the building and began
holding worship services in Freed Hardeman's auditorium. The building on
Crook Avenue was used periodically for small group meetings. Use of the
college facilities enabled the congregation to have Sunday School classes.
The little church building burned on November 1, 1933.
Bible instructors from the college were employed to preach for the Henderson
Church most of the time from 1903 until the early 30's. Hall L. Calhoun
preached the entire year 1925-26, and T. B. Larimore also preached a full
year. Among the great preachers who preached for the Henderson congregation
in the first thirty years were A. G. Freed, N. B. Hardeman, L. L. Brigance,
W. H. Owen, E. A. Elam, J. D. Tant, Foy E. Wallace Jr., T. Q. Martin, C. P.
Roland, and W. C. Hall.
Plans for a new building began in early 1944. Members of the board of
trustees included. M. D. Hartley, J. R. Glass, J. A. Ward, D. E. Mitchell,
W. B. Powers, Algie Smith, and Dr. W. O. Baird. Elders in the period from
1903 to 1987 were A. G. Freed, A.M. St. John, K. D. Lowrance, George
Roberts, I. N. Roland, J. G. Hardeman, S. C. Malone, Worth Powers, C. P.
Roland, Gordon Reid and Tom Williams. The building committee chosen in
September 1947, included N. B. Hardeman, D. E. Mitchell, Dr. W. O. Baird,
Henry Johnson and C. P. Roland. Henry Johnson and son, Raymond, constructed
the building. This building, which we now occupy, was completed in 1949, and
on the third Sunday in April, N. B. Hardeman preached the first sermon.
Other elders who have served are Lattie Averitt, Robert Darnall, John R.
Hall, John W. Johnson, Wayne Bulliner, Reeder Oldham, James Williams, Robert
Witt, H. C. Christopher, Charles Miller, John Rickard, Ray Nelson, and David
Magee, Jess Wilcoxson. Serving at present are Larry McKenzie, Ron
Butterfield, Charles Smith, John Sweeney, Larry Gilliam, Joe Hardin, Barry
Smith, and Gary McKnight, Mike McCutchen, David Willis.
In 1934 R. E. Henson preached full time and remained until 1937. Between
1937 and 1948 N. B. Hardeman, W. C. Hall, L. L. Brigance, and C. P. Roland
each preached one Sunday a month. In 1948 Jim Cope began preaching full
time. Other preachers who followed were B. B. James, 1950-55; Paul Simon,
1955-56; Jess Wilcoxson 1956-60; C. W. Whitten, 1961-66; Elvis Huffard
1966-67; (H. A. Dixon shared with Huffard during the fall of 1966); Phil
Hefley, 1968-75; Max Patterson 1976-87. Ben S. Flatt, 1987-2005; Alan
Highers , 2001-2005; and Daniel Hope, the current pulpit minister, began
preaching in June 2005. In July 2007, Justin Gerhardt began serving as
outreach minister and Chuck South began serving as Youth Minister.
For the past several years young men, have worked in a training program as
assistant ministers, especially working with our youth. Among this group are
Roger Coffman, Harold Neal, Bill Smith, Glen Colley, Dwight Robards, David
Powell, Frank Belizzi, Bryan Maynard, Brad Howard , Kevin Cain, Mike Wamble,
Phil Dean. David Lipe served as Campus Minister/Educational Director from
1995-97. Jason Beard is the current Youth Minister. Mark Finton serves as
Educational Director. Jake Morris served as Campus Minister from 2002-2005.
The building completed in 1949 cost about $85,000, including equipment. In
1958 an annex was added on the south side, increasing the seating capacity
of the auditorium to 825 and adding classrooms in the basement. This cost
about $45,000. In 1967 the Johnson property was purchased and is now used
for parking. All of this cost about $31,000. In 1981 an educational building
was constructed on the east side of the main building for classrooms; it
also serves as a fellowship area. More parking space and needed equipment
have been added in the past few years. In 1995 a new activity center was
completed at a cost of $530,000 giving additional space for offices,
classrooms and fellowship, as well as providing a recreational area. The lot
across Second Street was purchased in 1997. Remodeling of the basement
classrooms was completed in 1998. Two additional pieces of property were
purchased in 1999 on Hill Avenue adjoining the Second Street property. Work
began on an enclosed foyer between the Main Building & Education Bldg in
September 2002. The work was completed in the Spring of 2003 and will be
called the Commons.
Because of the abundant generosity of our members, we are able to use a very
high percentage of the budget for missions both foreign and in the U. S. |
