Church of Christ to Add New
Sanctuary on 100th Anniversary

This is copied here with permission from The Weatherford Democrat, July 23, 1956 issue.

A building program has been launched by the Church of Christ, South Main Street, that will provide a new sanctuary and additional classroom space for the 100 year old institution, church officials announced this week.

The church, which is celebrating its 100th birthday, along with the county, will be expanded along South Main street with the new building to house the sanctuary.

When the proposed new building is finished at the South Main Church of Christ there will be seating capacity for 1,000. The building will add another 93 feet to the present 50 feet that fronts on South Main Street, and the whole building will be air conditioned.

The church was organized in 1856 and has served the people of Weatherford and parker County continuously since that time. The original minutes read as follow: "The Church of Christ in Weatherford, Parker County, Texas, was organized on Sept 20, 1856, by Elder Keeny, with the following membership." The membership list shows 16 charter members.

The congregation met in several different places in Weatherford until on Nov. 9, 1875, they purchased the present site and immediately built a small frame building. That building was used until the present stone building was completed in 1904.

When the present building program is completed, in addition to the 1,000 seat auditorium, there will be approximately 25 class rooms for educational purposes.

The membership of the church today is about 600 and there is an average attendance of 550.

Mrs. D.C. Noble is the oldest member of the South Main Church of Christ, having been baptized in a baptismal pool south of the building in 1893.

The present elders are J.R. Fleming, J.F. Thomas, L.C. McCanlies, Herbert McCarty and W. L. Barber. Claud C. Smith is the present minister.

The late T.C. Hart was an elder in the church from 1877 to 1923 and Mr. Fleming has served his church as an elder since 1921. These two elders whose terms overlapped by two years have served the church for 79 years of its 100 years existence.