|
History of the Durham Church of Christ
The Durham Church of Christ began January 2, 1997, with 31 people seeking to worship God in Spirit and in Truth. For the first two months the congregation met in a member’s home. In March, the congregation begin meeting in a small house on Guess Road and began to grow. By June the congregation had grown to 45 members. The congregation searched throughout Durham for a larger place to meet and on August 27 a church building was purchased at 909 Camden Avenue.
The auditorium seated approximately 100 people, with 2 classrooms upstairs and 5 classrooms downstairs. The month of September was spent remodeling the upstairs auditorium and classrooms. Many people took off from work to get the old building in shape for worship. The plumbing was re-done, new windows installed, new carpet laid, walls painted and much, much more. The Saturday before the first worship service in the building was a day that will be long-remember by those who were there and worked so hard. Members spent that day cleaning, wiping, and preparing for the first worship. Those working together that day ate their sack lunches, sitting around the pulpit area talking and dreaming about the first worship service ito be held in the building the next day. As the members left the building and locked the front door that Saturday evening, they looked and saw the most beautiful place to worship that anyone could ever imagine. On October 5,1997, the Lord's church in Durham met for he first time at 909 Camden Avenue, Durham, North Carolina. It was a glorious day.
The first gospel meeting was held one month later on November 14-16, 1997. Four sound Gospel Preachers from the area delivered lessons on “The Authority of God’s Word.” Robert Goff. Jr., Goldsboro, NC; Mike Glenn, Sanford, NC; Richard Bentley, Cary, NC; and Brock Hartswigsen, Apex, NC preached wonderful lessons during that gospel meeting.
Elders were first appointed in the congregation in July 1998. The primary mission of the congregation was established by the elders in their first meetings and has not changed; “To seek and save the lost.” Secondly, the elders desired to either find or build a structure that would house 150 to 200 members for services. The original elders believed that it was important that after reaching the capacity of a building that would hold 200, the Durham congregation would be a seed to start other sound congregations in the area. It was also part of the original mission of the congregation to be a “sound congregation” model for other congregations in North Carolina and the surrounding states since North Carolina is a mission field. The first Deacons were appointed in February 1999.
The men of the congregation performed the preaching duties from January 1997 until January 2000, when the first full time gospel preacher was hired. Since that time, many of the men continue to regulary preach on Sunday evenings and at other times as needed.
From January 1997 until present, some of the finest gospel preachers in the United States have held gospel meetings for the Durham congregation. Some of the men holding meetings for the congregation include: Tom Holland, William Woodson, Dave Miller, Neal Pollard, Barry Grider, Mel Futrell, Cliff Goodwin, Billy Bland, Michael Jordan, Miles Stutts, Randy Pyle, Kelby Smith, and Garland Elkins.
In March of 2007, the congregation purchased a larger facility and property at 5224 Wake Forest Highway. The new location provides the congregation with more parking, more classrooms, an auditorium that seats 250 people, and a fellowship area. The services held at the new location was April 1, 2007. The new facility provides the Lord's church with a greater opportunity to evangelize the lost in the area and throughout North Carolina.
Some of the faithful congregations in the area in which the Durham Church of Christ has had close fellowship over the years include: Cary Church of Christ, Cary, NC; Sheffield Drive Church of Christ, Rocky Mount, NC; Apex Church of Christ, Apex, NC; Henderson Church of Christ, Henderson, NC; Clinton Church of Christ, Clinton, NC; Oak Forest Road Church of Christ, Goldsboro, NC.
North Carolina is a mission field. We know the Durham Church of Christ will continue to be a sound work in this area until the Lord comes again if we follow the scriptures and go to God in prayer for guidance.
1 Peter 3:15, “…sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear”.
March 2007
|
