Collinsville Community Church

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Collinsville Community Church
Collinsville, Oklahoma

 

Oct. 6, 2009-- ccchistory.html
Copyright 2006-202014

HISTORY

The church began with a group of women from three Collinsville churches (Christian, Presbyterian, and Methodist) who saw a need of a non-denominational church in Collinsville. In a town of less than 2,000 people, there were eight churches, each seemimg to have a struggle to keep and adequately support a full-time minister.

After preliminary meetings, all members of the Presbyterian and Christian Churches voted unanimously to support a non-denominational church. Reverend Clifton Titus, minister of the Community Church in Joplin, Missouri helped with the organization.

The first Sunday Services were held at the Christian Church at 14th and Broadway on December 14, 1930, attended by 175 people, and 110 of this group became charter members. The Christian Church became the permanent home (until it burned on February 11, 1933) with additional classes and the Woman's Alliance meetings being held at the Presbyterian Church, which came to be called the Community House.

Reverend Paul B. Rains of Kansas City, Missouri accepted the call to become the first regular minister of the new church. Under his leadership, the church built two tennis courts, a croquet ground, two horse shoe pitching courts, a wading pool and playground for children all of which were open to the community and known as the Community Center. At the one-year anniversary, it was noted that 17 denominations were represented in the church.

On February 11, 1933, the Community Church was destroyed by fire, which started by a defective stove in the basement. Services were held in the Grand Theatre on February 19th and continued there until fall of 1933, after which time services were held in the Community House.

On May 29, 1940, a delegation from the Woman's Alliance met the Board to inquire about the possibility of building a church. Thus, again, the group of Quilters who had kept the spark of faith alive all those years led the way. Action began at once on using the bricks from the old church to build a foundation for the new church building. However, it was not until May 23, 1948 that the new church building was completed and dedicated.

The fellowship Hall and Sunday School rooms were added in 1968. The church building was destroyed by a fire on June 2, 2004.

A new church building was constructed in 2005 and the first services held there on Sunday February 26, 2006.