OUR HISTORY

 

In the year 1879, a few dedicated Christians met and organized the first church in the Sandborn area. Under the leadership of C.M. McCormick and the following charter members: Amanda Crane, Martha Bailey, Mary A. McGinnis, Martha Halstead, Zerelda Farris, Katie Jerrel, George Hubbard, Bluford Gadberry, Lewis Brown, C.C. Cooper and George Anderson.

 

The congregation first met in the hall over the hardware store, then later in the old brick school across the street from the present church building. A frame church building was built on lot 60 in south Sandborn in 1884 at the cost of $2,000. The building was used until 1913.

 

In August of 1910, as the church membership reached 275, a proposal to build a new church building was presented.The size and kind of church building envisioned by the leadership was going to be a very large undertaking. The contract for the new church building was awarded to C.W. Willis and Son, for the cost of $9,480.

 

On Sunday June 8, 1913, the present Sandborn First Christian Church building was dedicated. The church was filled to capacity for both morning and afternoon services. The first to be baptized in the present building were Sarah Begeman and Ellis Dittemore.

 

One hundred years later in January 2013, the leadership embarked on their second major building project - a separate facility that would become a new Fellowship Center located directly behind the 100-year-old Worship Center structure. Faced with the need to expand the current fellowship area, classroom and office space, and address a long-overdue handicap access, the decision was uninamously made by the church leadership to construct a new facility.

 

Over 70% of the capital was provided by internal support raised over a 1-year period, and the new Fellowship Center was dedicated on November 17, 2013. It was packed to capacity for the first carry-in meal held that day.

 

Both the Worship Center and the Fellowship Center continue to be used many days every week for worship, meetings, community groups, meals, growth groups, youth groups, practices, fellowship events, and office hours.