About
Eastside Church of Christ
Welcome!
Thank you for visiting our web site. Our place of worship
is located one block off of Highway 31 in Athens Alabama. If you are in our
area, we would welcome you to come and study God's Word
with us. We hope this web site can serve as a place
for you to visit and study about our Creator. There
is coming a day, which no man knows, when we will all
be judged according to God's Word (John 12:44-50; Matthew
7:13-27 and II Timothy 2:15). We strive to worship God according to the pattern, which has been set
forth in the New Testament. During the period of time
when institutionalism and the social gospel ran through
local congregations in Limestone County, Eastside stood
against it and still does today. We are very happy to
help in preaching the gospel in the United States and foreign countries.
The
following is a short history of our congregation and
our work in our community. Carl Richter, one of the
original members, has supplied much of this information
on an audiocassette. Eddie and Mary Ann Ball transcribed
the audiocassette and I want to say a special thanks
to all of these individuals.
In
1944, Eastside, then known as Sunset, began in a small
25' X 30' building on a small lot across from the present
Champion Chevrolet, on Clinton Street, in Athens, Alabama.
The building was built by Mr. Ward Russell and was used
by Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists and other denominations
until 1944. It was at this time, Mrs. French called
and asked A. J. Rollings to discuss the use of the now
empty building. Mrs. French told Bro. Rollings she had
done all that she could and had worked for 25 years,
and there was no progress being made in the "church"
and wanted to know if he would take over and do some
good work. Bro. Rollings responded that it wasn't the
habit of the Church of Christ to take over a denomination,
but that he would hold a gospel meeting in the building.
He also explained to Mrs. French, if a congregation
was started in the building only Christians would have
a part in the worship service and that no outsiders
would be allowed to participate in the services of the
church. Mrs. French and the others agreed, so Bro. Rollings
held a Gospel Meeting and Everett Alexander lead singing.
The response from a two-week meeting was favorable to
start a new congregation. In October of 1944, a new
congregation started worshiping God. They called themselves
Sunset Church of Christ. Mrs. French attended regularly.
Carl
Richter was asked if he would take his family and work
with the new congregation. Carl responded that he was
willing and would do the best he could. At first there
were about 24 member and not many of them were men.
Carl Richter invited young men to come and preach at
Sunset. Some of these young preachers were Irvin Lee,
Charles Chumley, George Williams, Robert Hendrix, Billy
Noles, Mac Owens, Irvin Russell, Clifford Bullington,
M.A. Creel, Bennie Lee Fudge, Everett Alexander and
others. The congregation continued to grow and new families
joined in the work.
After
some time, the elders of the Rogersville Cumberland
Presbyterian Church asked the members of Sunset if they
wanted to buy the small building for $1,100.00. However,
the congregation declined due to the size of the building
and lot and returned the next Sunday to find new locks
on the door.
In
1945 the Sunset congregation began meeting in a back
room of Athens Bible School's building. Bennie Lee Fudge
began preaching for the congregation and the growth
continued. In 1948 the name was changed from Sunset
to Eastside. After meeting in Athens Bible School's
building for 14 years, the congregation built a building
on their current lot at 110 French Way in Athens. The
new building is less than a mile away from Athens Bible
School. It was constructed in 1959 and is still being
used to this day. The original auditorium is now the
foyer and classrooms and a new 700-seat auditorium was
built in 1968. At one time, the congregation numbered
almost 617 people. Though the congregation faced many
issues, such as the support of human institutions (schools,
orphanages, papers and missionary societies) the congregation
stands against the support of human institutions to
this day.
Today
Eastside has a great Bible Class Program where all students high school age
and younger study the Bible from Genesis to Revelation
every three years. After three years, the cycle starts
over and a little more detail is covered each time.
By the time one of our young people graduates high school
they will have studied the Bible from cover-to-cover
three or more times. We hope this helps our young people
go into the world ready to give a defense for the hope
that is within them (1 Peter 3:21).
We
are about 275 members strong now. We have six elders
who oversee the congregation as described in Acts 14:28
and I Peter 5:2. These men are Charles Bowen, Ralph Gregg, Wayne Holt, Bill Murrell, Bobby Ogles and Freddy Richter (son of Carl mentioned above). We also have several deacons as you see listed to the left who work under the oversite of the elders at Eastside. Our goal is to grow and work for the Lord's Kingdom.
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