| A History of the church in Silver City, New Mexico The church in Silver City began meeting some time prior to 1936. During those years, it met in members' homesand later, in a garage on Alabama Street. When Brother Rolfe Wagner came to Silver City to preach in 1936, arrangements were made for the church to meet in the court house.
On the first Sunday morning, 22 people were present, 14 of whom were Christians, and 60 people were present that night. During the three
years the church met in the court house, those who were converted were baptized in Dr. Watt's swimming pool next door. Sister Wagner says in her book, "The Modern Pioneers," that some of those who were part of the early congregation were Jim, Hub and Sid Coker and their families, Brother and Sister Boyd Green, Brother and Sister Bruce Green and their daughter, Barbara, Sister Earl Botts and her three sons, Amber Portwood,(later Sister Bill Harris), Brother Perkins, Sister Nell Betts and her family, Sister Myrtle Rogers and her daughter, Gusta Powell and the Perkins family. When the Wagners moved away in 1937, because of Sister Wagner's health problems, the church numbered 83!
In about 1939, the members built an adobe building on Mth Street, between Silver Heights Blvd. and the present site of Sonic Drive-In.
In about 1945, a preacher's home was built next to the church building.
About 1948 a division (over the appointment of elders) resulted in some members meeting in the old Methodist Church building for about 6 months. The remainder of the congregation continued to meet in their church building on 14th Street.
About 1949, the division was settled and harmony was restored for
most members. Some chose to attend at the Bayard Congregation.
The "Anti-Bible Class" brethren purchased the Methodist Church
building.
Soon thereafter, the congregation started making plans to build a new
building and a lot was purchased on the corner of 12th and West. Work
was not begun on the building until 1957, when Payden Construction Co. and much volunteer labor
from the congregation. Often the ladies would
prepare a meal to be shared by those working on the building.
Construction was completed and the first worship service was held in
the new facilities on the first Sunday in December, 1957.
In 1959,
Bertha Harding, the minister's wife passed away from cancer.
Brother Harding remained until 1960, when he moved away with his
three sons. He returned for a number of gospel meetings and
homecomings and passed away in 2006.
The church continued to grow, and in 1976 a second story was added to
the classroom wing. This work was also done by volunteers. Richard Hollimon, a Christian
contractor, donated his entire crew for a day to work on the addition.
When construction was completed in June of 1976, our classroom
space was doubled with added kitchen and restroom facilities.
As time progressed, the church was outgrowing this facility and began
to plan for the future.
In 1996, the congregation purchased
approximately 8 acres on Little Walnut Road for expansion. The
building at 12th and West was sold in November of 1998 and for about a
six month period, the church met at the little theater of Silver High
School. Bible classes were combined by acting out Bible Stories
followed by question and answer periods. Construction began on the
existing building in 1998 with Tom Turner and his crew at San Man
Construction assembling the metal frame buildings. There were three
metal buildings each containing 4800 square feet. Again, volunteers were utilized to sheetrock,
paint, tile and complete the finishing touches.
The men worked many
Thursday evenings and some Saturdays with some of the ladies
providing meals and refreshments for the workers.
As the buildings neared completion, the church had quite a large
debt on the property. At that time, we were interviewing for a
minister. It began to be evident that we needed to pay off that debt in
order to pay a fair wage to a minister. An offer was made to the elders
of a $100,000 toward retiring the debt if the congregation could pay off
the balance.
A time frame was established and with much prayer and
thanksgiving, the Lord blessed the effort which was successful. A
celebration service was planned and members of the congregation were asked to
bring a stone. The stones were placed in the parking lot, and remain to
this day as a reminder of God's blessings.
The buildings were finished one by one and the north and last
building was completed in 2007.
The congregation remains debt free
to date. |
Following is a list of men who have served the church in Silver City as gospel preachers: |
