First Christian Church

1874 - 2024

150 Years of faithful service to God's Kingdom and Jesus!

First Christian Church was established in Scott County by the efforts of such men as Wesley Hartley. From about 1870-1874 Hartley held services in a schoolhouse on the farm of Ben Hubbard, located just west of Scottsburg. In 1874 a two-week revival meeting in Scottsburg resulted in a total of 56 people being organized as the new congregation known as First Christian Church of Scottsburg. This group held their first meeting in the courthouse once a month under the leadership of Hartley. FCC would hold non-weekly meetings from 1874 to 1882 when an elder of FCC, C. A. Manker reorganized the group and began to meet weekly. By September of 1883 the church had grown to 203 members.

In January 1884 Eleanor D. Hawes and James K. Hawes deeded the first property to the congregation to build thier first meeting house. John Martin gave the church the use of his sawmill and several men worked at nights sawing the lumber for the building of the church.

By 1886 the oneroom structure was completed.

On December 3, 1904 the cornerstone was laid for the second building. By the end of 1907 the membership was holding steady at 251. But by 1915 the church family at First Christian Church of Scottsburg had grown to 415 and under leadership of preacher O.A. Trinkle, who began his ministry in 1919, and the Elders of FCC the congregation grew to 556 by June of 1921. During the ministry of Dixon Hall, an education building was added to the west side of the church to help house the growing congregation. Work on this unit was completed in the winter of 1953.

Additional space was purchased in 1957 for the future construction of a new parsonage at the corner of Bond and Wardell streets. An auditorium remolding program was completed in 1958. In 1959, Erma Potts, became the church's first paid secretary. More property was acquired on Wardell St and growth continued. By 1962, Dale Aldridge, was hired as the first youth minister in the fall of 1962 and additional property was purchased on the corner of Wardell and Meridian streets.

Under the leadership of Paul Banta, a new sanctuary fund was established by Mr and Mrs J. Gilbert Martin as other contributions followed and this was the first major step toward the building of a new building soon to come. Fast-forward to 1971 the church membership of FCC had grown to nearly 1000 when they completed another building project in 1973 under the leadership of preacher Paul Patton and the Elders of FCC. At this time, Ruby Cambell, became the first "full-time" office manager of the church and the church began it's weekly radio broadcast. In 1972 the church added over 100 people in baptism and the offerings grew by 64% from the previous year as the building plans came to fruition. Ground was broken on October 8, 1972 for the new church building (our current building here at 255 W. McClain Ave.).

Growth of First Christian Church continued under the leadership of Tom Mobley and still another building was added. The family life center and gymnasium was completed in 1988. Mobley served the congregation for 10 faithful years. In 1999 the congregation had continued to expand and grow led by Phil LaMaster. During this time the church had grown to a membership well above 2000 and a weekly attendance of 1200.

During the leadership of Phil LaMaster and the Elders of FCC, the church purchased almost 36 acres of land on South Gardner street to accomdate future growth and for future outreach programs and space. LaMaster once said: "People have surrendered their lives to the Lordship and leadership of Christ. Many wonderful acts of God's grace have come alive in this church. To summerize the wonderful way our heavenly Father has worked in the body of believers here at First Christian Church. To God be the Glory, great things He has done!"

During this time the church built two buildings on the South Gardner property and under the leadership of Larry DeWitt and the Elders the youth and outreach building along with sports fields were dedicated. These buildings and fields contine to be a great source of excitment and growth for the church. During the summer of 2018 the Shelter was remodeled and it has been a great resource for the community.

Over the following years from 2005 to 2023 the church would go through many ups and downs. First Christian would have to work through some very difficult times and see the attendance number fall. But faithful men and women would hold firm and continue the work here that was started long ago. The current minister, Matthew Craig came to the church in 2017. Matthew had previously been on staff under Phil LaMaster and had seen success in church planting and growing a church in Ohio. During the past several years the church contiued to regain health as it once again would have to navigate unprecedented circumstances with COVID-19 and by 2023, the church once again was seeing weekly attendance averaging 450. In February of 2024 FCC would once again hit a weekly attendance of over 500 for a non special Sunday...

Lead Pastor, Matthew Craig said: "God has always loved His church and He has loved this place a lot more than any one person here. He has been faithful to us through so many ups and downs. Now it is our turn to remain faithful to Him. What's going on right now is a gift from our heavenly Father. We have been blessed once again with an amazing group of people and we hope that we can continue to help people find their way back to God and grow in their relationship with Jesus each week. To God be the glory and a huge "Thank You" for all of those who have paved the way for the next 150 years."

God's love is unfailing. God is faithful to every generation. and the people of First Christian Church have remained steadfast. The faces have changed. The buildings have changed. But our mission has remained the same - We desire to help people find their way back to God as we continue to LOVE GOD, LOVE PEOPLE and BE THE CHURCH. We are excited to celebrate our 150 years here in this community and beyond. We hope that you will join us!