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OUR HISTORY
Followers of Christ Church was birthed September 29, 1987. Our founding pastor
was a formally-trained Southern Baptist minister who
received his theological training at Criswell Bible Institute in Dallas, TX. But
after six months he decided to go back to school, so he formally set apart
David Bridges, as Elder and Pastor, before leaving. Because we were a small
congregation and not affiliated with any denomination, we had difficulty
locating places to meet on a regular basis. Determined to continue the work we
felt the Lord had for us, we held worship services in the Pastor's home,
A miracle kept us going. Another Christian couple in our town heard about our plight and overnight offered their empty business building to us - a fabulous 7,000 sq. ft. custom brick with acreage! We felt like millionaires! We were on a busy highway with great visibility. And the price was right. Thankfully, we could afford the payments.
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in an art studio (when it was raining), in a shop downtown, a restaurant, and finally an out-of-business funeral
home. (left) We rented the
last place for over 2 years before being asked to vacate - without notice -
because the
owner wanted to open up his funeral home again ... (It eventually became home to
another church congregation and then burned to the ground! This is the only
photograph we have of it.)
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But the dream only lasted two years ... Again we were routed by the news that the owner's (estate planning) son-in-law-lawyer wanted them to sell the building outright, and cancel our contract. So we were again asked to leave. We actually disbanded for 3 months while we sought the Lord's will concerning another meeting place. It gave the Pastor and his wife a chance to visit other churches and receive ministry themselves. They needed it. A storefront in downtown Wills Point became available just before we celebrated another church birthday, so we decided to move in and "start all over again." By then we were 6 years old as a congregation. (Yes, we still HAD a congregation!) But that venture only lasted - you guessed it - 2 years. We were told we had to move again because the owner had sold the building. And out on the street we thought we'd have to go. One businessman in town kidded David that he wished we'd move into his building ... He'd love to sell it and if we were in it, it would probably move fast! Oh, but God is so good to us! He had other ideas for the Followers of Christ Church. I think He was tired of watching us being shifted around from pillar to post. Now we were going to be given a real church HOME. One that we would never be afraid of losing ever again. David heard about some land in the city limits on Highway 751, about 3 blocks from downtown. It
was five acres, but the
price was way more than what we thought we could afford. Still, he was determined we
would get it, so he made an offer to the owner for a third of the
purchase price and were we ever surprised when the man said yes!!! And not only
did he sell us that tract of prime highway frontage, he ended up deeding
over an additional 3 acre parcel next to it for no extra charge! So we ended up
with 8 gorgeous acres of land with several huge
pecan trees that provide us with a bountiful crop each season.
We were able to purchase a building to be moved for only $2200. that served
us initially as a meeting hall and offices. But it wasn't long before we managed
to build a larger sanctuary Now we are saving to build a larger sanctuary to be situated between the two church buildings. (Below) A new addition was constructed for a baptistery.
(Above) Our Sanctuary soon after construction, 1996. (Below) Setting the baptistery.
Live oaks shade the Sanctuary and the new Baptistery
(Left) Heath Gregory works to trim out the door and window before the siding goes up.
Judy Hughes became the first member to be baptized when we celebrated our 20th Anniversary, September 29, 2007.
SANCTUARY REMODEL February, 2009 Pastor David decided it was time our Sanctuary
got a facelift. It had been his dream for a long time to take down the suspended
ceiling tiles and put up sheetrock and some proper lighting fixtures. Here are
some snapshots of the progress:
Robert Huff and Pastor David worked for four days in a row to hang the new ceiling! Last updated February 28, 2009
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and then add on to the first building
addition. We will finally be able to have baptisms in our own church once more!
