History of First Christian Church

A circuit preacher stopped at Herrin’s Prairie, in the year of 1864, and held a meeting. People gathered in a log school house, where the Herrin Middle School now stands. A small group of these people became converts of the Church of Christ. As more people began to worship with this small group, it was evident they needed more room for growth. In 1867 they built a small frame church and named it “Herrin’s Prairie Christian Church.” The Church continued to grow and the congregation voted to move to a location so they could expand when needed. In 1898 a new church building was erected on the site which is located immediately west of what is today the Herrin Hospital. By 1910 the congregation assessed their facilities once again and decided the building was inadequate to meet their needs. They made plans to build a larger building in which to worship. The new brick Church was dedicated to Christian Service in 1913. The Church continued to grow. In 1951 another appraisal for the needs of it’s future was made, adjoining property was purchased. Long range planning was made for a new sanctuary to be added to the present building, the old sanctuary would be converted into an education unit, a new kitchen, fellowship hall and office spaces. This work was completed in 1967.

In 1992 First Christian celebrated it’s 125th birthday...

The Church continued to grow. Our last facility needed more class rooms, better parking, the fellowship hall was too small for our activities, our building needed to be on one level and handicap accessible. There was no room for growth. A congregation survey determined a need to look into purchasing land to build on. A search committee for land was formed. In the fall of 1997 an informal meeting was called for all who worship at First Christian Church, to ask questions and to discuss negotiations for the purchase of a 9.9 acre plot of land located near the Carterville Crossroads. The land would cost of $150,000.00, and the meeting resulted in a yes vote to continue negotiations. A land stewardship committee was appointed to begin the task of developing a program so the land could be paid for in one year. A committee of 25 adults and youth with Dean Sloniger as chairman, agreed on a plan.

$50,000.00 down payment, leaving $100,000.00 to be paid off.

Raise $50,000.00 in interest free loans, May 10 (for a maximum of one year.

Raise $50,000.00 in commitments over the next 12 months.

Every member and friend was asked to commit how much they would give over and above the amount they regularly give to repay this $50,000,00 over the next 12 months.

Piggy banks were made and given to young people, (5th grade and younger) they were encouraged to fill them with coins and bring back on May 10th to be emptied into a large piggy bank. The landed was purchased and the next step would be to sell our existing property and building and make plans to build.

History of Phase 1 Building Project . . . . the rest of the story

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