A Brief History of the Church of Christ in Oxford (1985)

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The beginnings of the church of Christ in Oxford can be traced back to the Civil War, when Thomas W. Caskey, a pioneer gospel preacher, was in charge of the Confederate hospital on the 0le Miss campus. The Oak Grove church in Lafayette County was begun in 1889, and congregations were meeting in Pine Grove and Toccopola before the turn of the twentieth century.

Occasional evangelistic preaching was done in the county in the years just before and just after 1900. J. W. Dunn held a gospel meeting in the Oxford depot area that attracted some university students. E. C. Fuqua preached in Oak Grove for a time and then moved to the Paris community in 1901. While in Paris he published "The Apostolic Light," a religious newspaper. He printed the paper with his own funds, setting his own type and maintaining his own press. Mill Crum lived in Hickory Flat and preached once a month at Oak Grove. A church met for a time in the Burgess community beginning in 1904, with W. M. Gamble doing most of the preaching and E. C. Fuqua visiting occasionally to preach. A. Y. Howell did a great deal of preaching at considerable personal sacrifice in Oxford, Lafayette County, and North Mississippi during these years. Howell was the father of Hazel Shelton and Christine Truett (both of whom [were in 1985] still members of the Oxford church) and the late Lorenzo Howell and Lewis Howelt.

There is no record of a congregation meeting regularly in Oxford prior to 1929. In the summer of that year, several Christians attending the university began meeting in the YMCA building (now called the "Y Building" or the "Old Chapel") on campus. After the close of summer school the group continued to meet in the home of A. S. Huggins in Oxford. Later, the church began meeting in a second story room on the Oxford square. In the late 1930's the congregation purchased a residence on Jackson Avenue (across from Ross Brown's gin, what is now known as the Country Village and Warehouse Restaurant) and converted it into a meeting house and apartment for the minister. The congregation sold that property in 1950 and bought land on North Lamar to construct a new auditorium. While the new structure was being built, the church met at various locations: in the county courthouse, in the Oxford Elementary School (on the site of the present Federal Building), and in another location on the square.

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The first service in the new auditorium was conducted on March 18, 1951. The new building cost $75,000, a large sum at the time for a congregation that had a total attendance of approximately one hundred on Sunday mornings. In addition, the members bought the pews and did much of the finishing work in the classrooms themselves.

A $50,000 classroom wing was added to the auditorium on North Lamar in 1966. The new wing more than doubled the floor space of the original building and included 10 classrooms, office space, and a fellowship hall and kitchen.

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In 1983 the congregation undertook the construction of a new auditorium on the same North Lamar site. A one-day contribution of $42,560 was given on November 6, 1983 to begin the construction program. Ground was broken in late 1984 on the three-quarters of a million dollar project. The new project, which was scheduled to open in late 1985, provided seating for 500 with expansion possible up to 700 capacity.

The growth of the church can be seen in comparing contribution, budget, and attendance figures for key years. In 1944, about 25 people gathered for services and gave an average of $12.00 per week. In 1951, when the old auditorium was completed, the average contribution was $178.00 per week with about 100 as the average Sunday morning attendance. (Several members of the growing church had been members of the Pine Bluff church in Toccopola, but chose to become members of the church in Oxford where they lived.) By 1966, when the educational wing was added, attendance averaged 222 and the $517.00 weekly contribution met an annual budget of almost $27,000. In 1976, the average Sunday morning attendance of 280 contributed toward a budget of $68,180, which called for a weekly collection of $1,311.00. For the first half of 1985, Sunday morning attendance averaged about 310, and the church operated with an annual budget of $134,000, requiring a $2,577 weekly contribution. The 1985-86 budget would include a sizable increase, with about $1,500.00 additional weekly contribution required for payment of the new auditorium.

An evangelistic effort aimed at the black community of Oxford in 1957 resulted in the establishment of the Rivers Hill church of Christ that meets on Highway 334, just off University Avenue. The Oxford congregation helped construct the Rivers Hi11 church building and provided much of the financial support for the preacher for many years, but the congregation eventually became self-supporting. Some of the members of the Oxford church of Christ formed the South Oxford church of Christ in 1969.

This photograph was made in October 1998 of those who were members of OCOC when the original auditorium was built in 1951. It was taken when the congregation completed a renovation of that building to be used as a fellowship hall, pictured on the right.

The Oxford church of Christ conducts several areas of effective service. In addition to the Sunday morning and Wednesday evening Bible classes for all ages and the Sunday morning and evening worship services, the church sponsors annual gospel meetings, active youth and singles ministries, and other special events. In 1981 and 1982 the church sponsored community-wide showings of two film series on the family. The congregation oversees the work of John Reese, a missionary who works in the Johannesburg, South Africa area. From 1974 until 1984, the church operated one or more Joy Buses, which brought children from all parts of Oxford to the regular Sunday and Wednesday Bible classes for children.

A major part of the church's work is the campus ministry. From the time that the church was formed on the Ole Miss campus, the church has maintained an active interest in the spiritual welfare and needs of college students. Separate from the work of the Oxford church, a group of Christians from the Mid-South established the University Christian Student Center in 1960. Several members of the Oxford church have been involved in the Center since its beginning. The Center is located on West Jackson Avenue, across from Martin and Stockard (Twin Towers) Dormitories on the 0le Miss campus. The Center houses about thirty college students and offers an evening meal, daily devotionals, weekly credit Bible classes, and a yearly lectureship. Don England was the first director of the Christian Student Center, overseen by the Center Board of Directors. He was followed by the late Chester ("Buddy") Reaves, Jr. and then by Jim Taylor. Emma Reaves lived at the Center for several years as hostess.

The spiritual work provided for 0le Miss students is under the oversight of the Oxford church, and involves regular devotionals, Bible studies that meet in several places on campus and in the community, retreats, and other special programs. About one-fourth of the members of the Oxford church are students. Mark Woodward, Sam Hester, and Reggie Greene have worked with the church in the role of campus minister. Sandra Purkey and Becky Amole were hired at different times to work with female students. Ray Notgrass served as campus minister and later as a minister with the church. Wayne Hood and Ron McQuinn served as student ministers, graduate students working part time with the campus ministry, from 1983 to 1985.

The Oxford church of Christ is overseen by men called elders or shepherds. Among the men who have served as elders of the Oxford church over the years are 0. T. Whitehead, Homer Samuels, Andrew Lauderdale, E. S. Samuels, Woodrow Lee, and Chester Reaves. Currently, the elders are Ervin Davis, Doug Shields, Chester Shivers, and Wade Waters.

In addition to the ministers mentioned above who have preached in Oxford and worked with the church here, Bob Farris was the minister when the church began meeting in the converted house on Jackson Avenue. Alonzo Welch moved to Oxford in 1944 and (except for the 1946-47 academic year, when he taught at David Lipscomb College in Nashville) preached for the church through the building and opening of the auditorium on North Lamar. Richard Curry, Paul Ayers, Jim Potts, and Calvin Conn, successively, served as ministers from the early 1950's into the early 1970's. David Chadwell began working with the congregation in 1974 and is the current minister.

--Ray Notgrass (May 1985)

Information for this article was gathered from essays written by Tony McBride, Doug Shields, and the late Homer Samuels, from interviews with Alonzo Welch and Adene Blaylock, and from records maintained in the office of the Oxford church of Christ.