All are Welcome

Come join us in worship, fellowship and lasting friendships

3969 West State Route 185 Piqua Ohio

Phone: (937) 773-8143

Sunday School: 9:30 AM (Adult and Children)

We offer a 3-5 year old class, Middle school class, Jr/Sr High Class and 3 adult classes

Worship: 10:30 AM (Nursery available)

Family Gathering: Wednesday 7:00 PM

Welcome to the Piqua Church of Christ

Our worship is designed to be Bible based and relevant to daily life

It is our mission to restore the authority of Jesus Christ as outlined in the new testament. To expose people to Jesus Christ, equip people for Christian life, exalt God, edify other believers, and experience the joy of ministry. We are committed to the truth of 2 Timothy 3:16-17: "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

The Piqua Church of Christ has been providing Spirit filled worship since our founding in 1844. Our worship is designed to be Bible based and relevant to daily life. We are net governed by a hierarchy of leaders in a denomination but by Elders- set apart by the congregation under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. None of us are perfect saints. We are forgiven sinners, growing to maturity in Christ.

Church of Christ

HISTORY OF THE PIQUA CHURCH OF CHRIST

1844 - 1987

The Church of Christ was founded on the day of Pentecost, A.D. 33. To know of this organization and its doctrines, we must read the Acts of the Apostles. For about 200 years it was true to apostolic teachings. But, by the mixing of Jewish teachings and pagan ideas, the “church of the beginning” was lost. Centuries of ignorance and superstition passed where the Roman Catholic Church almost usurped the place of the Church of Christ. In the early part of the l6th century, Martin Luther broke the shackles of Roman influence and gave the world the open Bible. Later, Calvin advocated the divine sovereignty of God. John Wesley advanced the question of more spirituality in the churches.

Around these ideas, great denominations sprang into existence. Then, the people began inquiring about the old paths. The churches were weakened and handicapped because they were divided. Early in the 19^th century, there was general unrest among the churches in America. All denominations included those who believed that the followers of Christ should lay aside the traditions of men, and return to the church of the New Testament. Among these believers was Thomas Campbell and his son, Alexander, a young man who had studied at the University of Glasgow. Father and son were members of the Seceders branch of the Presbyterian Church. They aimed, “to take up things just as the apostles left them, and stand with evidence on the same ground on which the church stood in the beginning.” Their intention was not to start another church but to call the churches back to the New Testament. They were not reformers; they were restorers.

None doubted that the church described in the Book of Acts is the true Church of Christ. To restore this church was their work, along with others, including Barton W. Stone and Walter Scott. One man who may very well have heard Alexander Campbell was James Morrin. He came to Ohio with his father, James, from western Pennsylvania. According to the History of Miami County, he and his wife, Nancy, literally cut a farm out of the wilderness. They were members of the Church of Christ.

An early map of Piqua shows a church on West High Street between Downing and Caldwell streets. While its proper name was Church of Christ, it was penciled in on the map as the Campbellite Church. James and Nancy Morrin were aunt and uncle to Mr. George Lines, and a great aunt and uncle to Mr. Clifford Lines. Mr. and Mrs. Clifford Lines were aunt and uncle

Mrs. Joan Livesay. Watson Morrin, son of James and Nancy Morrin, was the father of Miss Margaret Morrin, whom we were honored to have as our guest at our 75^th anniversary celebration.

The Morrin family is the earliest record we have of membership in the Church of Christ in the Piqua area. The church was dissolved legally in 1865 due to members moving away, and the death of others, and so forth. It had become too much for the remaining members to carry on the church. The balance of the church treasury at the time of the church closing was divided equally to the remaining members. In that legal document, it was stated that this money would be returned, with interest, at a time the church decides to reorganize and rebuild. This document was signed by all remaining members and from 1865 to 1887 the Piqua church, as an organization, did not exist.

On January 8, 1887, believers rented the Broadway Chapel. They elected J. M. Smith, as pastor, with a salary of eight hundred dollars a year, and secured pledges for his support. Thus, the church was organized for the second time. The Broadway Chapel, as it was originally called, was located on Broadway between Ash and High streets. It was the second lot south of Ash Street on the east side of the street.

Elders of the Broadway Chapel in 1887 were recorded as C. Johnston, S. A. Johnston, and J. M. Smith. J. T. Barkalow and Nancy Smith were chosen and dedicated as deacons. A few months later James Morrin and Martin Osborn were also elected as elders. Other families, who were noted as active in the Broadway Chapel, were J. B. Sheridan, E. W. Lape, Jacob Tinkler, Isiah Millhouse, J. B. Hill, Jacob Barr, and H. H. Gravett. In March of 1887, the congregation decided to purchase the Broadway Chapel for the sum of nine hundred and twenty dollars. The deed was secured the following month.

An interesting thing happened in September of that year. The elders of the Lockington Church of Christ wrote a letter dismissing the minister of the Piqua Church of Christ. The elders of the Piqua church, as well as the congregation, refused the letter and retained Mr. Smith as minister during 1888.

The church was incorporated in October of 1891. During this time, the chapel was remodeled and refurnished at a cost of fifteen hundred dollars. It was dedicated on March 27, 1892. During the remodeling program, the members held services on the third floor of the Citizen’s National Bank building located on the northwest corner of the public square, which is known today as the Thoma building. In 1893, a committee of deacons were authorized to put a suitable hitching rack in front of the church. They put up a forty-foot hitching rack made of gas pipe and posts, for a cost of eleven dollars and seventy-five cents.

In March of 1898, the trustees proposed the selling of the chapel and the purchasing of a lot at the corner of Broadway and Boone Street from Mr. I. J. Whitlock. Mr. Whitlock operated a sawmill and lumber yard where our former church stills stands. Mr. George W. Lines, father of Clifford Lines, worked at the Whitlock Lumber Company for awhile. The lot and buildings, at the corner of Broadway and Boone streets were purchased for twenty-five hundred dollars.

The deed for the lot at Broadway and Boone was secured in April, 1898. A committee was appointed to contact all the Churches of Christ in Ohio, asking for one dollar towards building a new church in Piqua. Mr. C. H. Trout became minister in 1899. The Broadway Chapel was sold in July 1901, at the price of seven hundred and fifty dollars. In August 1901, a building committee was formed. Members of this committee included J. B. Hill, chairman, J. P. Sheridan, J. Hagan, H. H. Gravett, and D. D. Snyder. Three sets of plans were drawn up by Oscar Richardson, an architect and member of the church. The plan selected by the building committee called for a building measuring forty-four by fifty-two feet. The contracts for the excavating, stonework, brickwork, carpenter work, plastering, and slate work were to be let separately to the lowest cash price of responsible parties. The committee was authorized to hold back a sufficient amount of the money until the work was done to their satisfaction. The building committee was permitted to plaster the church. The building contract was let to a Mr. Cramer.

Actual construction on our former building was begun in October, 1901. During the construction the congregation met at the old Broadway Chapel. In December 1903, the trustees sold forty feet off the west end of the lot to Mr. Ed Williams for five hundred and fifty dollars. A house was built and, after many years, was purchased as a parsonage for the minister’s family.

Dr. H. H. Gravett, church treasurer, suggested and secured small barrel banks, and distributed them, asking that members save their pennies for the building fund. One note shows that five hundred and thirty dollars and seventy-nine cents were saved by the members in this manner. The building was finally completed at the cost and great sacrifice of forty-seven hundred dollars. The ladies of the church raised funds and placed handsome art windows in the building and also furnished carpet for the floor. The church was formally dedicated on Sunday, December 21, 1902 in the Name of the Master.

Our minister at this time was J. B. Raum. Rev. L. L. Carpenter of Wabash, Indiana was guest speaker. Mrs. W. C. Lines though a child at the time, remembered being present for this meeting. Since we didn’t have the newspaper article on the dedication of our church, we went to the newspaper morgue of the Piqua Daily Call and have made an exact copy of that article for our official church record. Mr. J. W. Lowe was the minister from 1904 to 1909. During this time Mr. Clifford Lines became a member of our church. Mrs. Clifford Lines, whose father was Jacob Winkler, was a life-long member of our church. She attended Sunday school at the Broadway Chapel when she was six years old, and was baptized when she was about nine years old. Mrs. Lines had been a Sunday school teacher in the Church of Christ since she was sixteen years old. Mr. Otto Millhouse recalled that the Jacob Barr family, an old Cambellite family who came here from Virginia, would call at the home of his parents in their horse and buggy and all would go to church together. It was through the Barr family that the Isaiah Millhouse family became members of the Church of Christ.

Many years later, Mr. Charles E. Barr could recall vividly of being immersed on the same day Otto Millhouse was in the old Broadway Chapel. In April of 1909, the basement of our former church was put in proper shape for the use as Sunday school rooms and other purposes at the cost of four hundred and fifty dollars. This project was completed in 1909. In 1912 Mr. E. W. Corn was the pastor. At this time a building drive was promoted, but was never completed due partly to the 1913 flood.

On March 1, 1921 the regular board meeting was held at the home of E. W. Lape. After the meeting adjourned, Mr. Lape suddenly found himself busy receiving callers. They came in numbers and finally explained that they had come to surprise him on the occasion of his fiftieth anniversary as a Christian. There were games, music and refreshments and a good time was had by all. The new addition on the south side of our former church was proposed in September 1924. The members of the building committee for this project were Frank Smith, chairman, Vosler, Snyder, Ketchum, Elwinger, Millhouse, Huffman and Sheridan. The new Sunday school addition was dedicated on October 11, 1925.

Our former church was badly damaged by fire on February 1, 1948. During the time our church was being repaired and remodeled, the Congregation met in the Fellowship Hall of the Congregational Christian Church. Dedication services were held on Sunday, January l6, 1949. Mr. John A. Vilson of Springfield was the guest speaker.

The Diamond Jubilee of the Church of Christ at the corner of Broadway and Boone was observed on Sunday, January 7, 1962. A most interesting collection of antiques was on display in the main auditorium. The oldest item was a record book of the Female Bible Society which dated back to l8l8. Other interesting items were lamps, cobbler stand, communion cup, hand-woven bed-spread, pictures, small carved frames, irons, record books, newspaper clippings, butter mold, reed rocking chair, Bible, teapots, coffee servers, silverware, etc. Mr. Calvin Murphy, pastor, added authenticity to the program by wearing a suit created by Duval’s Tailoring Shop about 1900. Mr. Woodrow Perry, President of Cincinnati Bible Seminary, was the guest speaker. He spoke on the subject “Christian Service—Is It Worthwhile?” The Messengers Quartet, a male group from CBS, provided special music. They were James Bennett, John Bright, Dave Pembleton, and James Humphries. Mrs. Jehu L. Phillips gave a reading on the history of the church, from it’s beginning up to the Diamond Jubilee.

Special guests were Miss Margaret Morrin, Springfield; Mr. Warren Gravett, Mrs. A. J. Elbrecht, of Piqua. Mr. Charles E. Barr, Columbus, and Mrs. Clara Sheridan Morrow of Gary, Indiana were unable to attend. They sent special greetings to the congregation.

Calvin Murphy was our minister until January 1963. In September of 1964 James Deck became our minister and remained so until December 1967. During 1964, Walter Goodman of Joplin, Missouri met with us to discuss plans for the new church building. In February-1966 our present Hammond organ was purchased, with the idea of putting it in the new church building. On June 5, 1966 6.158 acres of land were purchased for $12,000 for our present church home. During this time the church land was farmed by Mr. Ingle - on-shares- to control the weeds on the property. In July 1967 church members met with Goodman builders to inspect preliminary drawings for the new church. It would cost approximately $175,000 plus landscaping and parking area. In September 1967, a special meeting was held to accept the building plans and present them to the congregation.

In July, 1968 Fred Schreiber became our minister.

In 1969 our old church at the corner of Broadway and Boone streets was offered for sale at the price of $30,000. The Church was sold to the Missionary Alliance Church with the stipulation that we would share the building during the construction of our new building. The new church building was financed by the selling of bonds. The building committee was as formed as Lee Livesay, Chairman, Kenneth Dennis, Merrell Durr, Harold Edminson, Roy Coens, Pat Highly, Izora Long, Medille Martin, Walter Maxwell, Florence Millhouse, Jehu Phillips, and Ray Wackier.

The Scriptures read “This is the day the Lord hath made let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Indeed it was a glorious day on August 23, 1970 when we moved into our present church building. It was a mountaintop experience; one that we will always cherish. The actual dedication of our church was on November 11, 1970 and, on that occasion, Jay Sheffield, editor of the Lookout was our guest speaker. What a wonderful milestone to have reached – together! Indeed, we give God all of the glory. We as a congregation give thanks and all of the credit to our Heavenly Father for permitting us to reach our goal. Fred Schreiber left the ministry here in September of 1972. Dave Huddleston became our minister and remained until June, 1976. In March of 1976 - a mortgage for $18,000 was taken out on the parsonage.

[Our present minister], Glenn Hurdle, came to minister here in February, 1977. On January 4, 1987 we experienced another spiritual high. We as a congregation celebrated the burning of two mortgages one for our church building, and the other for the parsonage. We are debt free. A hundred years of praise, worship and work for our wonderful Lord. May we always serve Him - and to God we give all of the glory.

Prepared by: Mrs. Jehu L. Phillips