In September 1947, two churches of Christ in Porterville (the congregation that met at Orange and F Street and the congregation that met at Sunnyside and Belleview) decided to merge. Their purpose being to unite their efforts by selling both their buildings and then constructing one new church building, thus forming a new congregation.
On October 27, 1947, the decision was made by the men of the Church of Christ to purchase a lot on the corner of Morton Ave. and 4th St. Two hundred dollars was placed in an escrow account, but the price of the lot was not recorded. Earlier in the month, the Orange and F St. building had been sold; and early in 1949 the Sunnyside building was sold. Construction on the new building started in July of 1949 under the watchful eye of Brother Gus Litsey. During construction of the new building, the congregation met in the Eagles’ Hall located on Main Street. Fifteen months later, on October 8, 1950, the Morton Ave. Church of Christ held their first service in their new building. L. W. (Doc) Mayo, the minister for the Church, titled his sermon “Unpossessed Possessions.”
Over the years, there have been many physical changes to the building that you now see at 137 E. Morton Ave. To begin with, the foyer that we enjoy and the upstairs rooms that now serve as a supply room and the Jr. High classroom were not added until the 1970’s. The annex was not yet built and the back parking lot was somebody’s back yard!
The most notable difference you would see would be the interior of the main auditorium. At this time, we did not have carpeting or pews. It was a waxed concrete floor with folding chairs. The stories are told of the children who would turn around and stick their legs through the back of the folding chairs, only to have the chair collapse on them! It was a common occurrence for a child’s panicked voice to cry out in the middle of the minister’s sermon as their father tried to free their trapped legs!
One of the first orders of business for the young congregation was to ask qualified men to serve the congregation as elders and deacons. The men chosen to serve as elders were Brother James Collier, Brother Chester Green, Brother O.H. Humphrey and Brother Fred McGuire. The men chose to serve as deacons were Brother Charlie Fike, Brother Silos Jackson, Brother Afe King and Brother Tom Maddox.
To the best of our research ability, Brother Doc Mayo served this congregation as minister from 1950 to 1953-54. Next came Brother Eddy Broulette who ministered here in 1954-55. In January of 1956 a young minister and his wife, Marion and Wilma Davis came to work with the Porterville Church. They faithfully served this congregation for the next 13 years. Bro Marion continues to be a strong influence and steps to the pulpit on occasions.
In January of 1960 in a publication called the “History of The Churches of Christ in California” it was reported by James L. Lowell that the Porterville Church of Christ was established in 1926 when three families came together in the name of Christ and met at the Farnum farmhouse. In the 1960 report, the original three families had grown over the 34 years to a congregation with an average Sunday morning attendance of 400, with seven elders and a full time minister.
The Porterville Church experienced a period of growth and expansion in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. In 1957 a “Young Peoples’ Meeting” was started. Teenage Christians from all over the state were invited to the Porterville Church for a weekend of fellowship, studying God’s Word and worship. The committee working on the first Young People’s Meeting consisted of Marion Carroll Davis, Calton Massey, James Collier, Willis Osborn, Bob Reese and Kay Head. The first Young Peoples’ Meeting was held the weekend of December 27, 1957. The following year the meeting was moved to the Thanksgiving weekend which became the annual time for many years. For the first four years the Young Peoples’ Meeting was free; in 1961 the young people were asked to give $1. A far cry from the cost to attend the 2002 young people’s meeting which will cost $25!
Along with the Young Peoples’ Meeting, the congregation started an annual Vacation Bible School, held each summer. These two outreach efforts were added to a successful Bible School Program which had been ongoing since the doors opened at 120 E. Morton (that’s right, for years our address was 120 E. Morton). In the minutes of the September 4th business meeting, Sister Edna Howell and Sister Willie Tenpenny are listed as Bible School teachers. Along with the successful Bible School Program, the Church also sponsored the annual spring Gospel meeting.
It was also during the late 50’s and early 60’s that the congregation, under the leadership of the elders, began to look beyond their own back yard as we supported several mission efforts, among them a work in Nigeria, African and another in Canada.
(You will notice that up to this point in this recorded history not many women were mentioned. This is not to slight or to look down upon the great work that has been done over the years by the women of this congregation. Only the names of the men involved as committee chairmen have been listed in the minutes of the business meetings. We all know these men could not have fulfilled the tasks without the help and support of the women.)
In 1960, The Porterville congregation embarked on a program to expand the present facilities by building the annex. Over the next 14 years the auditorium, the annex, and the exterior grounds were remodeled. The majority of this work was done by the members who donated weekend after weekend to completing the work. During this time, the east side concrete drive through was completed for the loading and unloading of the children of the bus ministry. The new foyer to the auditorium, complete with the upstairs offices, the new pews and the interior paneling were also completed. Brother Jack Nix, Brother Waymond Inman, Brother Kay Head, Brother Clyde Keen and his son Duane gave countless hours to the completion of these projects. So much work was done on the building during this time by all the members (both men and women) that I hesitate to mention names, but these men were instrumental in organizing the work crews and seeing to the completion of the work.
From January 1969 to August 1977 three men served this congregation as pulpit ministers. Brother Bueford Hold was here from 1969 to 1971. Brother Marshall Brookey served from 1971 to 1973 and Brother Allen Robertson from 1973 to 1977. During this time the congregation continued to support Brother Steve Ennis as a missionary in Canada. In 1974 the bus ministry was started. Brother Marvin Nation was instrumental in starting this work and seeing to the day to day operation of the ministry. The congregation was also involved in a benevolence program and the Mountain Home Prison Ministry. Brother Doug Griffis gave countless hours to these two ministries. It should also be noted, that in October of 1969 the congregation was divided into “zones” to try and get as many members as possible involved in the various ministries of the church.
The late 1970’s and the 1980’s were exciting times for the Porterville Church. Brother Marshall Brookey came back to work with the congregation in August of 1977. Over the next nine years the Church embarked on the support of some new and challenging ministries. The congregation continued its support of the “One Way” television program, a one hour Bible question and answer talk show hosted by Brother Marshall. The Sunday morning worship service was broadcast over the radio. The first broadcast was the first Sunday in June, 1978. Along with the media ministries, the Church supported Dick and Beverly Parker as full time missionaries to the Bahamas. On the local outreach front, the congregation started the Sequoia Christian School, a private Christian school for ages kindergarten through 6th grade. The first administrator was Steve Foster. Others to serve in that capacity included Gene Osborn, Jim Woods, and Diana Hilton. Also during this time the congregation started reaching out to young people through our annual summer Bible camp.
The 1980’s was a time when the congregation built on the foundation of the previous three decades of growth. It was in the early 80’s that the church purchased the eight acres of property on Henderson Ave. To sum up the spirit of giving that prevailed during that time, $80,000 was raised in one Sunday to help pay for the property.
In 1986 Gene Gilliland came to work with the Porterville Church. He was followed in 1989 by Rick Edgemon, who was followed by Gene Elmore in 1993. Chris Kellner came to work with this congregation in the fall of 1994 and the current minister, Chris Newton, began his work in August, 2002.
During the 1990’s the congregation followed in the footsteps of previous generations. We have continued the youth rally started way back in 1957 along with our commitment to our Bible camp. We currently help support the Obong Christian School in Nigeria Africa along with Doug Tackett’s radio ministry to India. Our Bible school program has been an ongoing ministry since day one. We have great grandparents bringing their great grandchildren to Bible class just like they did for their own children 50 years ago! For half a century we have been striving to be a family of Christians who follow God’s Word as the final authority in our lives in all matters of faith and practice.
Those men who have served as youth ministers, associate ministers, outreach ministers, Spanish ministers and youth interns include Phil Wall, George Noel, Eddie Howard, James Stanley, John Egnor, Tim Douglas, James Rawlins, Shane Johnson, John Mora, Eddie Orosco and Jason Nichols.
The following men have served this congregation in the capacity of deacon:
Durwood Bailey, Phil Barrows, David Baumgardner, Jim Baumgardner, Stan Bronson, Bankston Brown, Don Chamberlain, Al Coleman, Bob Collins, Sam Crawford, Travis Crawford, George Davis, Tom Elford, Charlie Fike, Rex Furr, Ron Gardner, A.J. Gilbert, Doug Griffis, Earnest Haywood, Kay Head, James Heinle, Jack Hicks, Gary Ingraham, Isaac Innis, Bob Jackson, S.E. Jackson, Jr., Silos Jackson, Afe King, Don Lanning, Tom Maddox, Marvin Nation, Glenn Neal, Jack Nix, Gene Osborn, Willis Osborn, Robert Reese, Joe Roberts, Jack Rogers, Matt Rogers, Ed Sisemore, Brian South, Larry Underwood, Jerry Vinson, Clarion Wall, Rick Wall, Clyde Westmoreland, J.D. White and Jerry Witte.
Our elders have included these men:
Stan Bronson, James Collier, George Cosby, Travis Crawford, George Davis, Chester Green, Kay Head, O.H. Humphry, Gary Ingraham, S.E. Jackson, Jr., Afe King, Fred McGuire, Monte Moore, Marvin Nation, Joe Roberts, Ed Sisemore, Clyde Westmoreland, and Russell Williams.
Our history will continue until the Lord comes again. May God bless this group of disciples as they live to glorify His name.