First Christian Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way out in Crowell, Foard County, there's a story that starts in 1906, and it starts the way all good things do. With people deciding something worth buildin' is worth buildin' right.

That year, a congregation came together and organized what would become the First Christian Church. Now, when you're standin' up something from scratch, you need the right people in the right roles. And they had them.

J. E. Chase stepped in as pastor.

The elders were J. W. Cope and S.

J. Fenton, steady hands both of them. The deacons were E.

P. Bomar and F. H.

Crews. Keeping the records was Ben Henderson, serving as clerk. And watching over the finances, that was J.

H. Self, the treasurer. Eight names.

Eight people who showed up when it counted. But before any of them could do their work, somebody had to pick the spot. The site itself was a gift, offered by a man named C.

A. Andrews. And the choosing of it, well, that fell to three people: Mrs.

Ida Cheek, Robt. Cole, and Jim Meason. They looked, and they decided, and they chose well.

Because here's the part that ought to stop you in your tracks. That original church building, the one raised on that gifted ground in that founding year, stood in continuous use for sixty-one years. Sixty-one years, unbroken.

Whatever storms rolled through Foard County, whatever the calendar threw at Crowell, those doors kept openin'. That's not just a building. That's a congregation that meant what it said back in 1906, and kept on meanin' it.

What the marker says

(Organized 1906) An early church in Crowell. First officials: Pastor, J. E. Chase; Elders, J. W. Cope, S. J. Fenton; Deacons, E. P. Bomar, F. H. Crews; Clerk, Ben Henderson; Treasurer, J. H. Self. Site, gift of C. A. Andrews, was chosen by Mrs. Ida Cheek, Robt. Cole, Jim Meason. Original church building had 61 years continuous use. (1969)