By Millie Coffey
From my infancy the family attended Oak Lawn Christian Church on the corner of Herschel and Douglas streets, then later we moved to Preston Road Christian Church where I joined at the tender age of eight. Then one Sunday morning in August of 1934, Mother and I moved our membership to Greenville Avenue Christian Church. It was only a short time until the entire family made this lovely, friendly group our church home. And how blessed we were!
Greenville Avenue Christian Church started out in 1898 by the late Mr. and Mrs. Arthur A. Everts as a Mission School, then later became Ross Avenue Christian Church. It was being crowded by the business districts. A lot at the corner of Greenville and Llano streets was purchased, and the Ross Avenue Christian Church property was sold. Construction began in 1923 and on February 1, 1924, sixty-seven members met for their first worship service, which was held in the only completed part of the building the basement. Rev. W.M. Williams and Rev. L.B. Haskins served the congregation during this time and it was under the leadership of Dr. Ben M. Edwards that the beautiful three-story superstructure was completed in 1927. Dedication was on April 20, 1930.
Dr. A. Paul Daugherty was called to succeed Dr. Edwards on November 20, 1932. Under the capable leadership of Dr. Daugherty, the church had installed air-conditioning, a public address system, aids for the hard-of-hearing, entered extensive charity and mission work, which included sending its own missionary to the Belgian Congo, Africa. The balance of the note on the building was paid off ten years ahead of schedule.
In the spring of 1946, Rev. Carlysle Holcomb came to serve as pastor. He was followed by Dr. Addison Cole, Rev. Wilbur Mix and Rev. Clark Sanner. Dr. Daugherty was the minister when my family placed our membership with GACC. During his tenure, my teenage sister had serious surgery and due to the severity, she requested Dr. Daugherty be with her in the operating room. At that time blood transfusions were direct, and he gave her the first blood transfusion of the five or six she later required.
The church membership grew to 1200 during Dr. Daughertys time there. We had five active Christian Endeavor Societies, one of which had in excel of forty young people attending regularly. The young people were most active and attended monthly citywide Christian Endeavor meetings as well as state conventions in other Texas cities. A group of my age Endeavourers had a great and meaningful time attending the convention held in Harlingen, in June of 1939. Wherever we went, a full report was given at one of the evening services soon after our return. I remember weeklong retreats held on the TCU campus, where we lived in the dorms and became friends with others from across the state. Classes held weekend campouts at Camp Under-wood near Athens, where many hilarious as well as serious moments were remembered. There was al-ways an active Boy Scoot troop at GACC.
Each Easter morning we left home extremely early for the Easter Sunrise Service held in the church sanctuary. Usually one of our family members was in the pageant. Following this service, my Sunday School class met at one of our members homes where we all had a backyard breakfast. Then back to our own homes to properly dress for Sunday School and church services.
What wonderful times we had with our celebrations for all holidays, such as Easter Egg hunts, 4th of July picnics, Halloween parties, carnivals, Thanksgiving dinners and all of the many Christmas events, plus New Years Eve watch parties.
Offered each year was the High School Bible Credit Class. This was conducted during Sunday School class time (often extra classes were needed; the tests were sent out by the Dallas Independent School District. The final exam was given at a Dallas high school under the supervision of the DISD. The Mens Class was so large that they had to hold their Sunday School classes in the church sanctuary until a Fellowship Hall, was built. This hall, complete with kitchen facilities, served many church functions, dinners and special events.
Greenville Avenue Christian Church was a member of the Southern Church Softball League, where many exciting ballgames were played each week. The games were played at Lion Field on Industrial Blvd. Tickets were purchased 10 admissions for $1.00, and that entitled one to see two games.
Baseball Carnivals were held at the church with proceeds being used for team equipment. Behind the church building on the Llano side was a grass-covered lot which was used a great deal before air-conditioning was introduced because Sunday evening services were held out on the lawn.
The membership began to decline as young people married and moved to the suburbs and also the neighborhood began to deteriorate. A Child Care Center was started in 1970 and existed ten years. However, due to rising salary, utility and maintenance costs, less government assistance with the food program and less outside funding, the center was forced to close its doors.
Due to the older age of the few members left, the needs of continuing the program of service to others and the lack of ability to do so, a painful decision was made. With heavy hearts and after much prayer, the wise decision was made to sell the building and its facilities. It was agreed that the funds from the sale would be managed by the Christian Church Foundation with beneficiaries from the trust fund being Fowler Homes, Dallas Area Association of Christian Churches (new congregations, programs, School of Theology for Laity), Student Scholarships (Brite Divinity School and Jarvis College), Basic Mission Finance, Christian Church Foundation and the Pension Fund. The church members were given certificates of commission to aid in their establishing membership with other congregations. The last service at the church was held on August 29, 1982.
The buyer was unable to secure the zoning for his plans to use the building, and it sat vacant for some years, falling victim to decay and vandalism. The Greenville Avenue Christian Church structure was reduced to rubble by a fire on December 22, 1993.
Is this the final story of the mission of GACC? NO !
A reunion is held each August where the members meet at another church, have lunch, sing, greet each other with happy recollections and hear the financial report. It is amazing to learn that at our last reunion held on August 25, 2001, the total distributions from the fund have reached $852,585. What a rich heritage we have. The wonderful and cherished memories, the associations made will influence us the rest of our lives.
