About the Hendersonville Church of Christ
We're Christians. Nothing more and nothing less. We're trying to be like Jesus. We belong to Christ and we want to wear his name. The disciples were called Christians in the first century (Acts 11:26)
Mission Statement
Since our beginning in 1893 the Hendersonville Church of Christ has committed to believe and worship God and the Christ as our Lord and Master. Obedience to God's will is the cornerstone of our effort. Serving others as we seek to save a lost world is the underlying mission of this congregation of the Lord's Church. God's will has caused us to grow, even through adversity from that small beginning of 18 to over 900 families in 2004. Total commitment to The New Testament, worship and service is the key to our success. As we move into the 21st century, we pray God continues to bless us and that we will worship and serve Him in spirit and truth. Amen.
Hendersonville Church of Christ Timeline
| 1893 | April Camp Meeting held by James A. Harding; 18 members began to worship. Latter part of year-brick building constructed on property at 315 East Main Street. |
| 1917-1919 | Name changed from Christian Church to Church of Christ to distinguish from those bearing the original name who were using a musical instrument to worship. |
| 1923 | Fire destroyed building except for brick sidewalls; some pews and the pulpit furniture were saved. |
| 1933 | Hughlin F. Pendergrass was employed as the first regular minister. Sermons had previously been only once a month by a visiting preacher; Bible Study and the Lord's Supper had been observed on a weekly basis. |
| 1940 | Addition to one-room building included Sunday School rooms and a baptistry. |
| 1964 | First Children's Home opened at 109 Shivel Drive, Hendersonville. Bible Kindergarten began. |
| 1965 | Second Children's Home opened at 107 Delft Drive. |
| 1960-1966 | Bible Classes grew from 350 to 600-700. |
| 1968 | Educational annex completed; 75th anniversary celebrated with homecoming and open house; Tuesday school began. |
| 1969 | 1969 Thursday school began |
| 1973 | Decision made to totally relocate; Property purchased on Rockland Road. |
| 1974 | Early Spring-Camp site purchased on Old Hickory Lake near Gallatin; now named Whispering Pines Christian Camp. |
| 1975 | Building Program began; First Day Camp at Whispering Pine; Groundbreaking for new building. |
| 1976 | Occupancy of new building; Membership over 1,200. |
| 1980 | The Ken Lemons Memorial Scholarship Fund was established to benefit Whispering Pines campers, and the James E. Neal Trust Fund provided for immediate construction of the James E. Neal Lodge at the Whispering Pines Christian Camp. Also, the original pulpit Bible was restored and presented to the church by Patsy Curtis. |
| 1981 | Joe Sanders retired from David Lipscomb College and established a scholarship fund in his name. |
| 1984 | On September 9, the church dedicated the Christian Manor Open House, a five-floor, eighty-unit apartment complex designed for the low income and handicapped elderly. |
| 1985 | "Shaping the Dream" - a five year plan was introduced. The Allen Mann family established a church in the Philippines that would eventually become self-supporting. |
| 1986 | The office and education wing was added to the front of the building. The "Tools for the Carpenter Campaign" raised $409,957.64 of the $486,477.60 needed to complete the project. |
| 1988 | The church provided One-Year Bibles for the entire congregation and encouraged them to read through the entire Bible within that year. Members gave over $100,000 towards the Food Drive, Bibles for Poland program, Jamaican Hurricane relief fund, Manila seminar, and Firstfruits. |
| 1991 | 920 attended the first Community Appreciation Dinner, and Dale Soyars headed a crew to serve fellowship meals every other Wednesday before Bible study. Susan Edgin spent the summer in Prague, Czechoslovakia on a missions trip, typhoon relief was sent to the Philippines, Gottfried Reichel (GRM) made several trips to Germany and reported that the falling of the Berlin Wall had greatly affected his work, and the Room In the Inn continued to provide shelter one night a month for Nashville's homeless inner city men. |
| 1992 | In August, Keith Parker became the church's pulpit minister, and Jim Moss continued to head the youth ministry. |
| 1993 | HAPPY 100TH ANNIVERSARY TO THE HENDERSONVILLE CHURCH OF CHRIST !!!!!!! (April 2,1893-April 4, 1993) On March 26-28, members and their families displayed hand-made quilts in the church gymnasium at the first "Precious Moments" quilt show. With the anniversary theme "100 Years of Communing With God," members made special presentations to fit the occasion. Lucien Anderson, grandson of charter members James and Nannie Anderson, presented the church with one of two original silver-plated communion cups, and Roy Staley presented an early silver communion plate. Roy Pounders presented a set of restored stained glass windows from the 1923 church, and Mike Lacy presented reupholstered chairs from the original church. All of pulpit furniture used at the anniversary were originally from the 1893 building. The pulpit, two chairs, two flower stands, and the small communion table were all originals. Lastly, Annette Moss and Lauren Hulsey presented the 100 Years of Cooking Cookbook assembled by the Ladies' Ministry. Members in attendance were asked to sign a copy of the original charter which reads, "We, the undersigned, affirm our appreciation for our forefathers' commitment to the Will of God, and because we believe what they believed...We reaffirm our commitment to the charter of the Hendersonville Church of Christ which was originally signed on April 2, 1983." The first 100 signers received Anniversary Celebration ribbon bookmarks. |
| 1994 | All of the anniversary year programs and activities continued. One Heart was launched in the spring. |
| 1996 | Mark Bryson was hired as Involvement and Outreach Minister Roger Hatley was hired to work in our Adult Education Department and to preach on occasion. Ann McCleod was also hired as the full-time female Youth Associate to work with our teen girls. |
| 1997 | Darrel Tongate, Don Litchford, and Glen Rodgers were appointed as elders. Christian Manor II was completed |
| 1998 | Our attendance averaged 1186. The youth group made a mission trip to the country of Belize. Keith Parker, Mark Bryson, Katie Vandever and Will Flowers went on a mission trip to Russia. |
| 1999 | Attendance averaged 1197. The shopping center adjacent to the church building was purchased and plans for expansion began. The Youth Annex was occupied immediately which provided 12000 square feet for our youth department. A new Bunk House was completed at Whispering Pines Camp. A record attendance was recorded on our "Bring A Friend Day" with 2306 present. A city wide "We Care" Campaign was conducted with Larry West and 23 people were saved. The church began a $10000 Bible scholarship program for Bible students at Ohio Valley Collage. Larry Snow & Bill Tyner co-compiled/edited "In His Name", a daily devotional book by members of our congregation dedicating same to the current 9 elders. |
| 2000 | Nicole Risner was hired as the full time female Youth Associate. Attendance averaged 1199. |
| 2001 | Larry Perry and Larry Graham were appointed as elders. Attendance averaged 1275. Keith Parker was able to take a 3 month leave of absence with his family and Roger Hatley preached in his absence. A Boy Scout troop was chartered for our congregation. |
| 2002 | Roger Hatley hired as associate minister serving as Business Administrator and Adult Education Coordinator. |
| 2004 | Brian Sheppard was hired as our Family Life Minister AGAPE Satellite Office established with William (Bud) Lambert our Counselor/Director and Ms. Paula Weimers. Ben and Susan Cheek begin missionary work in Jersey City, New Jersey and Northeast, U.S. The Cojimar Church, suburb of Havana, Cuba given legal status "Involvement Ministry" implemented with 17 ministry areas and 72 ministries. |
| 2005 | Ground Breaking Ceremony held to expand facilities adding covered drive-thru, new rear lobby, new library/media center, new nursery, connector to Annex adding 3 adult classrooms, parlor, tea room, kitchen, restrooms. Construction completed 1-30 & 5-11-06. Mark Bryson and Keith Parker attend 12 day Philippine-wide Marriage Matters Seminar by Jerry and Lynn Jones. Joanne Howe begins weekly broadcast on radio station WNAH Dennis Johnson, John Kester, Bill Shannon appointed as elders to serve along with the existing eight. |
| 2006 | Jeremy Johnson hired as Youth Minister. David Swanger hired as Outreach & Involvement Minister. |
| 2007 | Special Contribution for Youth Annex & Whispering Pines Completed Youth Annex Renovation to Pier 511 Youth Ministry. Michael Jordan and daughter Meredith Hayes, hired as Co- Carl Rodgers honored by Keith Parker and elders with presentation of framed oil portrait of him painted by Penny Kester in recognition of his 90th birthday and 36 years of service as elder here. |
Video History by Paul Dorris
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Since our beginning in 1893 the Hendersonville Church of Christ has committed to believe and worship God and the Christ as our Lord and Master. Obedience to God's will is the cornerstone of our effort. Serving others as we seek to save a lost world is the underlying mission of this congregation of the Lord's Church. Click here to read the rest of our Mission Statement, as well as to view a timeline of our history.