“We have no creed but Christ, no book but the Bible.”

On a cold January day in 1832, a group of men and women huddled around a pot-bellied stove in a Columbia home as they sought to bring life to that simple statement. After singing hymns and praying for guidance, the 15 worshippers drew up a charter for the Disciples of Christ and the Columbia Christian Church was born.

Now 175 years later, the 897 members on the rolls of First Christian Church are celebrating their church’s long history “from the frontier to the future.”

The Journey Begins
“We are all on a journey of faith,” says the Rev. John Yonker, senior minister at First Christian Church. “We look forward to continuing to carve out our place in the community.”

The 15 pioneers who founded the church 175 years ago also were carving out a place in the faiths of Columbians. Just the third church to organize in town, the Disciples of Christ was a young denomination in America, forming Jan. 1, 1832, in Lexington, Ky., when two former Presbyterian ministers merged their Christian Church movements. The new denomination caught on quickly, appealing to independent settlers as they moved west across the American frontier.

Columbia was just 11 years old in 1832. The Baptists — Columbia’s first organized church — were meeting in the courthouse; the Presbyterians moved into their new building at Sixth and Walnut streets that year. Christian Church members met in private homes until 1837 when the size of the congregation — 78 — grew too large. The church shared borrowed facilities until its own building went up on Seventh Street in 1838. The plain, one-story brick building served until the congregation outgrew it in 1860 and built a larger brick church at 10th and Walnut streets. The Seventh Street building served other uses in Columbia and eventually became a county garage; it was razed in 1963.

After three decades of growth on 10th Street, the church erected yet another church building that still stands today. The Romanesque-style stone building with distinctive bell tower and intricate stained-glass windows was hailed as “an architectural gem … a sermon in stone” by the Columbia Herald after its dedication in 1893. The church building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.

Pillars
First Christian Church has left its mark on Columbia in more than bricks and stone over the past 175 years. Congregants’ names read like a veritable Who’s Who of Columbia streets and other landmarks: Allen, Rogers, Wilkes, Pannell, Lenoir, Nifong, Russell, Clinkscales, Vandiver, Lowry, Froman, Silvey … and so on. Renowned ragtime pianist “Blind” Boone volunteered his talents to play a benefit concert for the church’s building fund in 1891; the following Sunday Boone was baptized and joined the church.

Those who Yonker calls the “pillars of the church” also had a hand in shaping Columbia’s reputation as “Collegetown, USA.” Minister Thomas Allen was instrumental, with his words and his finances, in bringing the University of Missouri to Columbia, where he later served as a curator. Allen and other influential Christian Church members also succeeded in chartering a women’s college in Columbia, Christian Female College (known today as Columbia College).

Church & State
The church’s tie with MU became even more apparent when James Shannon assumed the presidency of the university. When Shannon, a passionate Disciples of Christ preacher, visited Columbia to consider the school presidency, he informed the university that he would continue to preach regardless of the hiring decision. Assuring him that his ministry posed no legal impediment, the university appointed him the second president of MU in 1850. Shannon preached regularly at First Christian Church, sharing ministerial duties with Allen, Samuel Church and D. Pat Henderson. He also prepared the charter and served on the board of trustees for the new Christian Female College.

Shannon’s pro-slavery views met with disapproval from many quarters and he frequently clashed with Sen. Thomas Hart Benton, James Rollins and local editor William Switzler. His support for pro-slavery settlers in Kansas plunged him deeper into political turmoil. Foes at the university decried his church ministry, accusing Shannon of trying to turn MU into a training school for Disciples of Christ ministers.

When the Missouri Legislature rewrote the rules for university faculty and administrators, it canceled all university positions in 1856 and stipulated that new appointees could not preach or be ministers. Shannon declined reappointment to MU and left Columbia to lead Christian University (now Culver-Stockton College) in Canton.

Living In The World
Shannon’s community involvement was not an anomaly for First Christian Church ministers. The 1871 “Dram Shop War” divided Columbians over allowing liquor licenses in the city limits. Minister J.K. Rogers drew up a resolution supporting the ban; he believed dram shops (bars and liquor stores) would have a bad effect on students.

In 1882, pastor Richard W. Gentry delivered, by popular demand, a lecture on sex education. The evening morality talk, “Relations of the Sexes,” laid down the rules of life as Gentry saw them. It was reportedly well attended by a polite audience of Columbia gentlemen.

Clarence Lemmon, the church’s longest-serving pastor, may have suffered through some of its most embarrassing publicity. In 1935, on the first Sunday in Lent, 15 modestly clad Christian College students presented an evening worship service in interpretative dance, performing three Christmas hymns along with several other hymns. Coverage of the performance appeared on the front page of the next day’s Kansas City Star, which noted that exotic dancer Sally Rand was a Christian College alumna.

(Rand, who appeared on stage in little more than her feathery fans, had caused a sensation with her fan dance at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1933 and was arrested several times on obscenity charges.)

The Associated Press picked up the story and nationwide headlines ensued. Letters and phone calls of support and condemnation poured in, sparking sermons and Bible studies across the country on the suitability of dancing in church. Although Lemmon and his congregation never criticized the performance, interpretative dance never became part of the worship service.

Growing Ministries
Tremendous growth during Lemmon’s long tenure led to the birth of other Disciples of Christ churches in Columbia.

“It was the only Christian Church in town until the 1950s,” says Yonker.

In 1956, membership at the downtown church was 1,782. A group of 100 committed to chartering the new Broadway Christian Church, which became a reality in 1958. Since then, First Christian Church has helped launch other Disciples churches such as Rock Bridge Christian Church, which formed in 1981 to serve south Columbia.

The church’s ministries extend far beyond organizing new congregations, though, as it strives to be “a place where people are cared for and cared about,” Yonker says.

“There’s a great spirit of cooperation here. This church has a long history of community involvement and service,” he says, noting the association with Lenoir Retirement Center and Woodhaven Learning Center. The church also supports Columbia College, The Wardrobe, Salvation Army, Loaves & Fishes, St. Francis House and a prison ministry at the Boone County Jail.

“We are a servant congregation,” he says. “We believe that is what Jesus would have us do.”

The Next Frontier
Yonker, who has pastored at First Christian for 15 years, says the future for this church with the long past lies in relevant services and a vibrant spirit. A revived youth ministry, started by Yonker’s predecessor Sam Langley, continues to breathe life into the congregation with an expanded associate minister staff. A new focus on services to older members has opened other opportunities for outreach.

Langley also began a series of brief radio spots, a practice that Yonker maintains. The short homilies usually end with an invitation from Yonker for listeners to visit First Christian.

“Seekers, searchers and skeptics are all welcome,” Yonker says. “We welcome anyone to share the journey with us.”

First Christian Church will celebrate “Coming Home Sunday” on Oct. 14. Visit www.firstchristian.org for more information.