History of the Church of Christ in Columbus, Nebraska
1954 through 2014
On July 15, 1954 a three-week Gospel Meeting was planned by W.W. Allen from Kearney, Nebraska for Columbus. The meeting was held from August 1 to August 22 1954. The church in Albion offered food and lodging.
The first week Harold Griffin of Braman, OK preached.
The ond week Charles F. Scott of Hickory, TN preached.
The third week Clyde Corner of Holdenville, OK preached
The
following history is from a mission report by Joe Alley and family.
In October 1963, a drive was led by Dale Larson and K.C. Thomas from the York, NE congregation. The goal was to raise $5000 to purchase a building in Columbus. Although the goal was not reached, we did come close. Churches from six states, and individuals in six states and one foreign country contributed a total of $4221.00.
On January 10, 1964 a group of men met in Columbus to finalize the plan for purchasing a meeting place for the church of Christ in this city, The building was the first one owned by the brethren in Columbus. Previously, the congregation met in a rented hall, and for a time in the home of one of the members. A building located at 2722 14th Avenue was purchased from the American Legion for
a cost of $16,100.00. This building
became known as the "Pink Building" because the bricks
had been painted pink.
On Sunday January 19, 1964, 38 people were present to worship. Students from York College came each Sunday to teach classes, lead singing, and help conduct the service in other ways.
The Pink Building was sold in the early 80's . We then rented a place above one of the business buildings and met in members' homes for awhile.
Elmer Baldwin, a member of our congregation, helped raise support from Bellevue, NE and also purchased a piece of land for a new church building to sell to the church. Later he bought the lots back after we purchased the First Baptist church building, located at 1573 25th Avenue, the current meeting place for Columbus church of Christ. We also got the house directly east of the church building in that purchase. The lot was eventually subdivided and the house was sold.
The Bellevue
church bought a house for the preacher and later sold it after withdrawing
support from Columbus. The church in Columbus bought a preacher's residence and
sold it after Rudi Hameister left.
At the present time(2022), men from York College serve our congregation two to three Sundays each month by preaching and assisting in other ways during the worship service. The men of the congregation preach and teach the rest of the time.
In 2007 the
church purchased a 6 acre tract of land ½ mile north of the Lost Creek School.
The following is list of preachers that have served the Columbus congregation:
n Joe Alley Fall, 1963 -
Nov. 1964
n Wayne Daniell Dec. 1964 -- Oct. 1966
n Wes Harrison and Garrell Kidd York College Students
n AE Patterson Oct. 1967 -- Sept. 1972 (lost support from Andrews, TX)
n Abe Martin Dec. 19 3 -- Oct. 74
n Carl Dugan 1974 to 1984--(support from Bellevue, NE)
n Jerry Bady 1984 -1986--(support from Bellevue, NE. Jerry moved to Grand Island, NE 8-27-86)
n Bob Osterholm Jan. 1987 -- June 1987
n Steve Honnen July 1988 -- May 1989
n Bob Frazer Oct. 1989 -- Sept. 1990
n Carroll Gregory Nov. 1990 - Oct. 1996
n Rudi Hameister June 1997 -- July 2005
n Lee Rottman Sept.1, 2006-Oct.1, 2013 (Support from the Southwest church of Christ in Oklahoma City and the Alpine/Longview, Texas church of Christ)
The church has a good deal of gray hair and a lot of good
experience. The church still
meets on Wednesday evening and Sunday night, but attendance is poor. During the 1990's the church grew to a congregation of 50 to 60 people on Sunday mornings. At one point the church was close to appointing two elders, but when one of the appointees was transferred, we were unable to move forward with that plan. The church has had many people come and go; some moving away, some dropping out, and others moving to different churches.
The church in Columbus is a conservative group doing our very best to follow the Scriptures to the letter of the law. The Bible is studied in detail in every Bible study. There are at least 3 home bible studies each week. We look forward to additional growth, hiring a full-time minister, becoming self supporting, appointing elders, building a new building, and becoming a powerful influence in this community for Christ Jesus our Lord. The community of Columbus is mostly Catholic and Lutheran and seems to be a difficult field to spread God's word; however, we continue to try to get the congregation to grow.
This history must be expanded a great deal to cover all of the happenings of the church in the past. The church has had a bus ministry, radio programs, gospel meetings, lectureships, campaigns, vacation Bible schools, and many other outreaches in our community. At one point a Hispanic group used the building on Sunday afternoons.
Dan Sanders
