Mannford Church of Christ HistoryThe church of Christ at Mannford was established in (old) Mannford in 1937 by the Sissom, Green, Brooks and Finn families. Originally, the church had 25 members. They met in the woodshop building at the school. Circuit rider preachers held meetings in the Basin and McElroy Schools and about a dozen families attended. A brother Gorbit came from Broken Arrow to hold evangelistic meetings in four of the local country schools. A shotgun style house was bought and moved into town, at the north end of Main Street close to the railroad. This served as a meeting hall. The freight trains on Sunday morning caused considerable interruptions. In 1948 a concrete block building was constructed on the front of the lot. In 1954-55 a new auditorium was added and the former one turned into class rooms. This building served us until the church was forced to move because of the town’s relocation when the Keystone Dam was built. When a circuit-rider preacher by the name of Mr. Will Thompson had a meeting at another school about 10 miles away, the Burgess families were added to our group, increasing our membership by 20. At least 3 meetings were held by Ray Russell from Wynnewood. The fall of 1960 saw 9 baptized with 7 more baptized in the spring of 1961 and later another 12 baptized in the spring of 1963. Jerry Hallford came from Tulsa's Eastside congregation to serve as a Sunday minister from 1958 - 1962. We had to move the church building because of the filling of Keystone Lake, so in late 1962, the church began meeting in their new building in “New Mannford.” This was a very nice beam-supported auditorium with class rooms, office, nursery and a baptistery. The church hired their first full-time minister, Frank Easom in 1962. He preached from 1962-1965. In 1966 we added a fellowship hall that could be divided into classrooms and a parsonage was built in 1968. Allen Taylor and family came to us in 1971, and was here until July, l979. We started a Joy Bus Ministry. It seemed everyone involved with the program grew in the Lord. We had so many attending that children had to sit on the floor. It seemed that “God had opened the windows of heaven and poured out his blessings upon us.” Mal. 3:10. Larry Parker, a student from Oklahoma Christian College, worked 4 years as our Youth Minister. We needed more space and found a program that helped to sell bonds in order to finance the building of a new auditorium. John Smoker came as minister in 1979 and helped get the building program off the ground. The dedication service was on Sunday, March 16, 1980. It now can seat 500 and has been full a number of times. “We walk by faith and not by sight.” II Cor. 5:7. Terry Sanders Tyson formed the Sunshine School and was the very able director for 14 years. Teresa Lewis followed for four years. This was a preschool, bible-based learning time for children, as well as a help for our working young families. This helped them to grow in the Lord from their constant contact with fellow Christians. The influence for good was beyond measure. The 1984 tornado hit during Sunday morning worship. We did not receive any damage. The building became headquarters for distribution of much needed help for the town. The church members worked long days to handle the volume of items given to those in need. The clothing room was continued for 16 years. Tony Keesee came to us as minister on March 5, 1995. Philip Johnson on July 1, 2001, became our associate minister in charge of the large group of young people. We daily thank our Lord for a nice, quiet place to live and worship as Christians. This history was compiled and written by Joyce Sissom for the Mannford Centennial History Book published in 2003. |
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