In the Old Testament, God often instructed His people to build memorial altars to serve as reminders of His faithfulness to them. These memorials prompted the re-telling of stories of deliverance to each generation, so that every child had a sense of his spiritual heritage.
While we don’t use these "memorial stones" today, the body of believers at College Heights is a living testimony to God’s faithfulness through the years. New “generations” of this family may not know the old stories of His leading.
The year was 1951. A group of young people from Iron Gates Christian Church went in search of a bell. They found just what they were looking for in an abandoned church in the small community of Atlas and reported the discovery to their minister, Floyd Cole. Instead of acquiring the bell, however, Cole saw the building itself as the real “discovery” and envisioned it being used for worship once again. Many hands worked to clean and repair the building, and as they swept out dust and cobwebs, God began to breathe new life into a dead church.
Those first worshipers have been described as a small group with “extreme faith.” When the town of Atlas picked up its houses and moved away several years later, that faith took a risk. In the mid 1960s, the state of Missouri was building a new four year college on the northeast corner of town (the current Missouri Southern State University). The believers saw an outreach opportunity with the new college, and in a step of boldness chose to "dismantle" as the "Atlas Christian Church" to relocate next to the college. A man in California was willing to loan money for a building, but on one condition. He would not loan money to a church that did not have a missions plan. The tiny congregation agreed. In faith, they allotted ten percent of their budget to Cookson Hills Christian Children’s Home and began a building project. God rewarded their faith, and in May of 1967 the small body of believers held their first worship service as the new "College Heights Christian Church."
In the years since, that body has grown to where on most weekends, about 2,000 people gather to worship. Like all other churches, we have our strengths and our weaknesses--but this is a body of believers who genuinely love each other and the Lord. And we know why we exist; we are about "making passionate disciples of Jesus Christ who radically change the world." Historically, the congregation is probably best known for its emphasis on the life-changing power of the Word, its heart for missions, and for a commitment to changing the lives of the poor and the hurting.
College Heights Christian Church moved into the new worship center in February of 2008, and standing in front of the new building is an old bell. It is the bell that a handful of kids went hunting for in 1951. It stands as a testimony to the power of God as He takes the little, and with it builds His kingdom. And on that promise we build our future.
Posted on
Wed, September 16, 2009
by Roger Lieb