The Alliance Christian Church has passed through all the experiences which are the heritage of pioneers of the past and the people of the present. In the early "nineties" a Christian Church was organized in a schoolhouse and later held services in a sod house erected for that purpose about eleven miles southwest of Alliance. This church did some efficient work for several years until removals prompted its disbanding. This was the first Christian Church in Box Butte county and furnished some of the members for the later organization in the city of Alliance. Repeated efforts were made to establish a church in Alliance by Evangelists and others but none succeeded in effecting a permanent organization until 1911. Evangelists Wilhite and Whiston conducted meetings in which large numbers were gathered in and other ministers did much to encourage the work. These included E. Von Forrel, C. C. Dobbs, H. H. Utterback, Willard McCarthy and W. A. Baldwin. In 1911 a Union Tabernacle Meeting was conducted in Alliance by evangelists Lowry and Moody and at that time many expressed their preference for the Christian Church. These were held together by Mrs. H. C. Redenbaugh, Mrs. Menafee and Mrs. E. I. Gregg who invited Mr. McCarthy to come over from Chadron to assist them in perfecting the organization which has continued to this time. Bro. McCarthy also helped select a building lot, and a lot already owned by the group at 4th and Laramie was sold to purchase our present site at 9th and Box Butte. In 1912 Frank Woten was called to be the first resident minister and it was during his ministry that the church, after meeting in halls, borrowed churches, the Court House and the theatre, built their own place of worship, first a basement then finally completed the church building. This was in 1913 and the lot at 4th and Laramie was sold for $1500 and the one at 9th and Box Butte where the church now stands was bought for $500. Rev. McCarthy of Chadron aided in getting the new place started. Mrs. Redenbaugh and Mrs. Cole canvassed the businessmen to raise $800. The building committee was composed of E. I. Gregg, Rev. Woten and Mrs. Redenbaugh and three or four others unknown at present. Contractors were Mr. Gentry and Mr. Hoppes. Rev. Harvey Harmon of the First Christian Church of Lincoln dedicated the new building. Frank Wolverton was the first Sunday School Superintendent of the new church organization. Mrs. A. J. Cole was the first Aid President. In 1914 Mr. Woten was succeeded by Homer J. Young who also led in the growth of the Church. In 1917 Stephen J. Epler was called to be pastor of the church and served for almost seven years. During his pastorate he purchased the portion of the church lot not occupied by the Church and built a home for his family. This residence was later purchased from the Eplers by the church to be used as a parsonage. It was also during Bro. Epler's ministry that a serious fire broke out in the church necessitating an extensive project of repair and alteration. Mr. Epler was followed as pastor by H. A. Wingard from January to June 1924. In September 1924 Mr. O. D. Lee became our minister and served the church until late summer of 1930. Then the church called Dana S. MacDonald to be pastor and he in turn served until the fall of 1935. It was during the pastorate of Brother MacDonald that the Ninety and Nine Men's Class was organized and leaders of the church began to look forward to some sort of a building program which would furnish more room for the Bible School and other activities of the congregation which by this time numbered well over seven hundred. After the resignation of Mr. MacDonald the church called Mr. Burton Davies from Ordway, Colorado. He served the church from September 1935 until 1943 and it was during his ministry, in January 1936, that the church, at the suggestion of Evangelist Cole, set up a Building Fund organization. In July 1936 the vacant lot east of the Church at 904 Niobrara was purchased at a cost of $1100 plus a few paving payments, and in the summer of 1938 the parsonage was moved to this new location to make more space available for extension of the church building. In November 1938 Mr. Davies led the church in their silver anniversary celebration. After Mr. Davies' resignation in 1943 the church called Mr. Charles Livingston to be their pastor and he served the church until the spring of 1948. Mr. Franklin Page came next to the pastorate and served from July 1948 to March 1950. It was during this time that the Building Committee secured the services of the architect, Mr. Coursey of North Platte, to draw up plans for an educational addition to the church at a cost of approximately $53,000. Mr. Elvin Gulp served as builder and superintendent of building during its construction. Mr. Earl Seitz came to the ministry of the church in June of 1950 in time to give much encouragement and practical aid in the completion of this task and help plan for the Dedication Day November 5. 1950. Shortly after the completion of the educational addition the sanctuary of the church was rearranged and altered to provide a more commodious and beautiful place of worship. This work was performed by volunteer labor. Dedication of the Educational building was November 5, 1950, with Rev. B. C. Bobbitt as the dedication speaker, This new addition has been of great use to the congregation for the past several years and has served the church well. In 1955 the Sanctuary reached such a bad state of repair that it became necessary to spend a large sum of money remodeling and rebuilding it or to build a new building. After much deliberation the congregation voted to build a new Sanctuary. Much donated labor was expected to be used during construction. The church had an indebtedness of nearly $7,000 on the Educational building at the time. A fund raising campaign was started under the direction of Mr. P. R. Stevens of Cotner College and with the aid of many teams of solicitors $29,000 in gifts was pledged by our membership. In the spring of 1955 the old Sanctuary was torn down and the foundations for the new building laid. 'The Congregation met in the basement of the Educational plant during the period of construction until the basement of the new building was near enough completion when they moved into it for church services where they were held until the Sanctuary was completed when a special Consecration Service was held February 14. This was preceded by a fellowship dinner in the new Fellowship Hall, previously used for church services. During construction of the new building many thousands of dollars were saved by volunteer work Of the members, which the contractors were kind enough to use to advantage. Many changes from the original plans were made as the building progressed, so that at its completion the sanctuary was much more elaborate and beautiful than had been previously anticipated. Total cost of the new Sanctuary was about $60,000. A part of this amount was used on other improvements to the church property apart from the new building. Seating capacity of the new addition is about 315. If needed, additional seating can be provided with chairs, giving a possible seating capacity of nearly 350 in the new Sanctuary. Just, before completion of the Sanctuary Rev. Earl Seitz was called to serve the church in Kokomo, andiana and the church at Alliance called Rev. K. Edgar Harris to serve the church here. He canie to us from Aurora, Nebr. Mr. Seitz left us August 12 and Mr. Harris arrived November 24. During this period of about three months Rev. Anderson of the Methodist Church served as our Minister in our morning services. Chairman of the Building Committee was Peary Rader, while John Neiderhaus, H. D. Shellenberger, Charles Adams, Wayne Lawrence, Ray Crawford, Carl Peterson and Richard McClall served well on the Committee. Contractors were: A. W. Smith, framework; Walter Mischnick, finishwork; Clint Brennan, sheetmetal; Clifford Hofmann, electrical work; H. G. Young, heating; S. J. Hillyer, plumbing; Roy Rader, plastering; Curry and Schriner, painting; Wm. Brazeal, carpetrng; Lew Woilaston, sound system. As we look back through the records we are reminded of the many members of the church who have given sacrificially of their means and worked untiringly that this church might be organized and that it might go on to do the Lord's work in this community and through their gifts to benevolence and missions have supported our benevolent institutions and carried the gospel to the "utter-most parts of the earth." Our Living Link Missionaries have been Ray Rice, Charles Story and our present Living Link, Hubert Reynolds in the Philippines. We are deeply grateful for the fine ministers who have led us in this growth and to the evangelistic teams who aided them. We are proud of our own young people who have gone out from this church to full time Christian service: Virgil Sly, executive secretary of the departments of Africa and the Orient of the United Missionary Society; Charles and Mattie Hannon, both ordained ministers, now serving the Kaimuki Christian Church of Honolulu, T.H; Elza Hawkins, Professor of Church History, Phillips University, Enid Oklahoma, and Louis Kirchner, minister of the new Parle City Christian Church, Wichita, Kansas. We wish also to recognize our remaining resident charter members: Mrs. A. J. Cole, Mrs. O. O. Gentry, Mrs. J. C. Wright, Sr., and Mrs. C. R. Mritham.

[Homepage] [Calendar] [Lamplighter] [Links] [Sermons] [Sunday School] [History] [Ladies Groups] [Fun & Games] [ALPHA] [ Goals and Vision] [Adopt our Troops] [Sunday Worship Service] [Serving]