Carterville Christian Church was organized in 1887. Ben Wills, of Joplin, held services in Carterville homes until 1889.
In 1889 W.A. Daugherty donated a nice piece of property to the church in Carterville. A small boxlike structure was built on the property on the corner of Tennessee and Hall Streets. In their humble beginnings, the congregation built make-shift benches by placing boards over boxes of nails, which were used for some time. Brother Patterson held the first evangelistic meeting in the Carterville Christian Church building and, as a result, 60 people accepted Christ and were taken in wagons to Center Creek, near Oronogo, to be baptized into Christ.
In 1907, $1800 was borrowed from the Church Extension Board in St. Louis, Missouri, to enlarge and repair the original structure. At that time, two annexes were also built.
Around 1915, a big tent meeting for all area churches was held on Tennessee Street east of the church building. Brother Hamilton was the evangelist and Brother Stuart was song leader. Approximately 40 decisions for Christ were made during this revival.
Over the first 21 years (1888 to 1919) twelve ministers served the congregation:
Mr. Ben Wills 1888 - 1889
Mr. A. L. McQuary 1889 - 1902
Mr. F. L. More 1902
Mr. Roberts July 1902 - 1904
Mr. G. Campbell March 1904 - Aug 1905
Mr. Luwellen December 1905 - May 1908
Mr. King May 1908 - May 1910
Mr. Claypool May 1910 - 1911
Mr. John Famuliner 1912 - 1915
Mr. Jones 1915 - 1916
Mr. Whorton 1917 - 1918
Mr. Holly 1918 - 1919
In 1920, Carterville Christian Church learned that the mortgage of $1800, which had been borrowed in 1907, must be paid or the congregation would lose the building and property. Through prayer, sacrifice and hard work God helped them to save both.
Over the second 21-year period (1919-1940) three men served on a part time basis, just coming in on Sundays.
Mr. A. L. Hosman 1919-1925
Mr. William Kelly 1925-1936
Mr. H. T. Brown 1937-1940
In 1940, there seemed to be an awakening of the congregation. The current minister, H.T. Brown, began to preach on tithing and the congregation focused more on obeying the Gospel. The Oakland Christian Church became a Disciple Church and transferred about 40-50 people to the Carterville congregation. Many accepted Christ around this time and were baptized. Others rededicated their lives and began tithing. Because of this, the church was able to call its very first full time minister, O.D. Johnson.
From 1940 to 1978 (38 years) the following men served on a full time basis:
Mr. O. D. Johnson Dec l940-1941 Aug
Mr. B. A. Austin Sept 1941-1945 Dec
Mr. Clarence Johnson Feb 1946-1946 Aug
Mr. James Woolsey Nov 1946-1951 May
Mr. Kenneth Arrowood July 1951-1952 Sep
(Brother Arrowood passed from this life while serving our congregation.)
Mr. James Woolsey Dec 1952-1958
Mr. Don DeWelt Jan 1958-1961
Mr. Lloyd Dunn Aug 1961-1964 May
Mr. Beauford Odor Aug 1964-1967 May
Mr. Gene Weece Nov 1967-1976 Jan
Mr. Jim Pohlman Feb 1976-1978 June
Also in 1940, the house and property just west of the church building was purchased. The house was used for a parsonage. Later, the property on the east side of Tennessee Street was purchased and the old parsonage was sold. After that, the house and property were traded in on a new home located on the corner of Pine and Hall Streets. The balance for that home was paid off in one year!
In 1948, during the ministry of James Woolsey, a revival with Carol Lankford as the evangelist was held. During these two weeks a great awakening was experienced and 54 members were added to the church. Also in that same year a basement was built at a cost of $2700. But, because the people had a mind to work, the Lord helped them complete the project debt-free.
In 1958, the auditorium at Tennessee & Hall was constructed with a seating capacity of 300. The structure contained a nursery, ministers' offices, library, a supply room and rest rooms. It was also equipped with air conditioning. This structure was built on land just west of the original building.
In 1975, a committee was formed, made up of representatives of all departments of Carterville Christian Church. They put a lot of time in considering what should go into the new education building and they came up with a plan that was adopted by the board and the congregation.
In 1978, the original structure was torn down and a new educational wing was built in its place. The building contained 14 classrooms, a fellowship hall, a well-equipped kitchen and restrooms.
A dedication service for the new building was held at 2 pm on Sunday, July 9, 1978. The service included a reading of the congregation’s history, which concluded with the following quote.
“We are indeed grateful for the leadership in our ministry and for the cooperation of the members of the church who have, through their love of God, made this possible. However, we still have a debt of about $100,000.00 but with prayer and dedicated members this can soon be paid. We thank God who has made this possible. In closing, turn to Nehemiah the 4th chapter and last portion of the sixth verse. ‘For the people had a mind to work.”
Growth continued in various ways over the next two decades. In the early 80's the congregation was able to hire its very first paid youth minister, Greg Mauers. And in the late 80's the first paid church secretary, Miss Joan Leib, was hired. In the early 90's the church hired its first paid worship minister, Kip Nelson, and at the turn of the century it hired Jim Dalrymple as the first paid children's minister. In 2008, the church hired another full time ministry position. Keith Bell was hired as the first Involvement Minister/Technical Director.
Ministers
Mr. Chuck Smith 1978-1991
Mr. Terry McGrew 1991-1996
Mr. Roger Hasselquist 1997-2006
Mr. Robin Sigars 2007-Present
Youth Ministers
Mr. Greg Mauers 198?-1984
Mr. John England 1984-1989
Mr. Rob Maupin 1993-1995
Mr. Matt Thomason 1995-1997
Mr. Scott Cooper 1997-2005
Mr. Erik Winston 2006-2007
Mr. Shane McKinzie 2007-2011
Mr. Austin Weece 2011-Present
Worship Ministers
Mr. Kip Nelson 1993-1997
Mr. Doug Songer 1997-1998
Mr. Nathan Shaver 1999-2000
Mr. Bert Park 2001-2005
Mr. Brad Moss 2006-2012
Administrative Assistants
Miss Joan Leib 1988-1996
Mrs. Ginger Myers 1997-1999
Miss Robyn Snow 1999-2000
Mrs. Branda Maness 2000-2001
Mrs. Marla Tournear 2001-2003
Mrs. Rebekah Hannum 2009
Mrs. Teri Foreman 2009-2010
Mrs. Sarah Jordan 2003-Present
Children's Ministers
Mr. Jim Dalrymple 2000-2003
Mr. Matt Carmichael 2003-2005
Jeremy and Jenny Souders 2005-2008
Mrs. Stacey Spikereit 2008-Present
Building for the Future!
In January of 1996, the land located on Gravel Road was purchased and dedicated with the intent of building a larger facility in the future.
In the Spring of 1998, church members worked to clear some trees from the new property and the first structure, a pavilion, was built.
On December 5th, 1999, the To His Glory Campaign began to raise money for the new building planned on Gravel Road. The goal for the campaign, $600,000.
On June 30th, 2002, the official Ground Breaking Ceremony for the new building was held and a picnic meal was served at the pavilion to celebrate. The high school age music group, Highest Praise, from Ozark Christian College sang special music for the ground breaking as well as giving a concert during the morning services.
On December 15, 2002, the congregation approved taking out a loan to complete the construction since all funds being raised by the To His Glory campaign so far had been used.
On May 4th, 2003, while tornadoes destroyed parts of southwest Missouri, a prayer and praise meeting was held to ask God's blessing and write scripture on the wall studs in each area of the new building.
On June 29th, 2003, a picnic meal was served inside the new building to celebrate the one year anniversary of the ground breaking.
On January 10th, 2004, an Open House was held at the new building to allow the church family and community a chance to come see and tour the finished facility.
On January 11th, 2004, the first Sunday service was held in the new building. Over 400 people came to rejoice and praise the Lord on this special day.
On February 29th, 2004, a To His Glory Praise Celebration was held to thank everyone for their faithful giving toward the campaign and their willingness to continue giving to the building fund.
On June 27th, 2004, the church dedicated the new building to the glory of God. Gene Weece, who ministered with the church from 1967 to 1976, brought the message for the morning service. A special dedication service followed. The dedication service included a group of "runners" who encircled the church property claiming it for the Lord. A red ribbon circle was formed by the entire congregation throughout the church building while the four elders gave prayers of dedication. As at the ground breaking ceremony two years earlier, the high school age music group, Highest Praise, from Ozark Christian College performed for the special music as well as giving a concert during the Sunday School hour. Roger Hasselquist, the current minister, conducted the act of dedication.
On Sunday, October 7, 2007, Carterville Christian Church celebrated 120 years with a special service.
