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Brief History of the Northside Church of Christ
Back in the late 1930's, the Cleveland Avenue congregation began to see the need for a new congregation in the north part of Wichita. With this pressing need in mind, a gospel meeting was held on the grounds of the Waco School, located at 21st and Waco. This was a large tent meeting with J. Harvey Dykes as the speaker. This meeting was held August 17-31, 1938.
The next year another gospel meeting was held at the same location June 18-July 9. At the close of this meeting a new congregation was established with 38 charter members. As of 2003, two charter members still worship with us-Leslie (Pete) and Doris Titus. The Lord's people met for worship for the first time on Sunday, July 16, 1939, in the Waco School Building. The was the beginning of the Northside congregation.
In the fall of the same year, land was purchased at the corner of 20th and Jackson for the purpose of constructing their first church building. Due to limited funds, the basement was built first and the auditorium added at a later date. On Thanksgiving Day, the congregation met for the first time in their new building for Bible study and prayer. The first Lord's Day service was held on Sunday, December 3, 1939.
Elders and deacons were appointed the next year according to the New Testament pattern. The following men have served as elders at Northside over the years: Fletcher Bethel, T.A. Davis, C.H. Williams, Frank Claypool, Ross Groves, Gene Hancock Sr., Leslie (Pete) Titus, Hoyt McDonald, Raymond Wheeler, Bill Maack, Oliver Sanders, Hoyt Mauck, Marvin Casebolt, Wayne Williams, Claude Brazell, Clint Petty, Richard Ward, Karl Berg, James Wilson, Justin Abraham, Albert Brensing, Brian Middleton, Sonny Banning, and Ron Mauck.
In the 1960's an auditorium was built with classrooms along both sides. In 1975, an educational building was built and the auditorium was enlarged. In the late 1980's the elders determined that a new site should be considered to accommodate the new growth the congregation was experiencing.
After nearly ten years of planning and construction, the Northside congregation moved to its new location at 4545 N. Meridian. The first service was on December 15, 1996, and was held in the multi-purpose room. The auditorium and offices were completed the following May. The first official worship service was on May 11, 1997, with a crowd of 591. The classrooms were completed on June 1.
There have been many pulpit ministers to serve Northside: J. Harvey Dykes, Lowell Davis, T.A. Davis, Otis Webb, Warder Novak, Norman Jones, A.G. Hobbs, Wayne Anderson, Gene Hancock Jr., Doyle Wells, Louis Tandy, David Lawrence, Robert Johnson, Bill Oakley, Steve Triplett, Steve Tandy, and Toby Levering.
Northside has been an active congregation, involved in mission works as well as television programs. Our mission field has included Japan, China, Canada, as well as many places in the U.S. In 1978-1980 Northside coordinated the Mid-Continent Soul-Winning Workshop at Century II Civic Center. More recently the congregation has sponsored James Abraham in Argentina, and Charles Bishop in the Czech Republic. Northside also supports Maude Carpenter Children's Center, Shell Knob church of Christ in Missouri, the World Christian Broadcasting, and missions in Touluca, Mexico. In July 1986, Northside began a television program called "Know Your Bible." The program is broadcast over south-central Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Iowa, and Illinois.
The Lord has blessed Northside-in 2001, construction began to enlarge the auditorium to accommodate over 900 people. The project was completed in 2002, and Northside is still growing!
