The College Hill Christian Church A Church 100 Years In The Making

Part 1 Early Church—1956 The First Church Era

By: Dr. Glenn E. Casteel College Hill Christian Church Historian, 100th Anniversary Chairman October 1, 2009 Published By: S & V Barrett Printing 2010

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This book is for all those who have gone before Believing in God, Trusting in God, Waiting on God.

To those Saints, we say thank you. Without your love we would not be here today. I Thessalonians 5:16-18

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We dedicate this book to the Writings and Works of: Richard (Ru) Roller, Bertha (Steinbeck) Keller, Dr. Bruce Martin, Artie Distler-Ehrmantraut, Sarah Moses, Dorothy Clemons Noonan, and all the Church Historians, Secretaries, Pastors, and others who have patiently recorded the life history of The College Hill Christian Church.

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This Book is Part One Of Two Parts

Part Two Will Include The Church History From Rev. O. Merrill Boggs To the Present.

Watch for Part 2 after 2010

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A Special Thanks Goes Out To Our Present Congregation, Pastor Barton I. Howard, And, All Those In The College Hill Community & Beyond!

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TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE

CHAPTER

SUBJECT

1

1

The church of Christ?

14

2

Reformers and Restoration

26

3

The early “Reformed Church”

43

4

Early Great Leaders

50

5

The Civil War Era

54

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The Early Church in Ohio

60

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Our 2 Church Founders

73

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Brief History of pre & early 1900 College Hill, Ohio

102

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The Birth of The College Hill Christian Church

134

10

The William G. “Daddy” Loucks Era

157

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The Robert Kleesattel Era

184

Appendix

186

Bibliography

189

Certificate of Congratulations vi

Chapter 1 The church of Christ?

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Where does one begin a history about a church so full of history. A church where God has always lived. A church of love and perpetual change. But also, a church who has remained steadfast in her basic beliefs. When looking at the history of the College Hill Christian Church, we must also look at the church of Christ and how it began and how it transformed into what we try to follow today. Alanson Wilcox said it best in his book A History of the Disciples of Christ in Ohio, published in 1918, “The church of Christ began at nine o’clock in the morning on the day of Pentecost succeeding the crucifixion of Christ. When it is spoken of as a church, Christ is the foundation, and the high priest to officiate for its members. When it is presented as a body, Christ is the head and gives forth its guiding principles. When it is recommended as a kingdom, Christ is the king to rule in and reign over the subjects.” These are not three different institutions, but are identified as varying view of the same institution. (Colossians 1:18-24; Ephesians 1:22, 4:15; Matthew 16:1519; I Corinthians 3:11). We must remember that the church was built on Christ, not the person of Christ, but on the truth that represents Him, “that he is the Christ, the Son of God.” When Peter uttered this truth in Matthew 16:16, Christ said, “Thou art Peter [Petros], and upon this rock [petra] I will build my church.” So, Jesus was commanding us to have the church built on the petra, or confession, or truth, that Jesus is the Son of God, and not on the Petros.

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Paul, speaking of the passage of the Israelites through the Red Sea, says: “They were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did all drink of the spiritual food; and did all drink the same spiritual drink; for they drank of the spiritual rock [petra] that followed them; and that rock [petra] was Christ.” This passage expressly states that the [petra] is Christ. This is a fundamental difference in how the Christian Church looks at our beginnings verses other churches. We believe the church was built on Christ and not on Peter. But, it was at Pentecost where Peter helped establish the first church. 3,000 persons were immediately built into the church as living stones. The church, the body of Christ,

st o tec n Pe

on that day received the Holy Spirit and He has dwelt in the body ever since. All who become members of the body have their souls in some way touched by the Holy Spirit and are made partakers of the divine nature and can never die. They take Christ at His word, as He so declared. In the early church we do not know all the conditions of membership but we do know that all must have heard the gospel, believed, confessed Christ, been baptized, received the remission of their sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit. The ONLY creed of the early church was Christ, not a selected set of dogmas. Only believers in Christ were baptized. The authority in the church or “the body” as it .

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was called was the authority of Christ. The apostles, guided by the Holy Spirit realized that Mosaic law ruled before Christ’s law began. Christ honored the law of Moses by living under it, and then, set it aside when His church began (Ephesians 2:15, Colossians 2:14; Romans 10:4). From this the apostles set up certain tenements for the early church to follow. For instance the disciples met on the first day of the week, called the Lord’s day, to break bread (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 11). As they broke bread they would remember

Apostles: Peter & Paul

Christ in His sufferings, death, and resurrection (Acts 20:7). They made offerings on the first day of the week for benevolences and for carrying out their work. They contributed voluntarily as the Lord prospered them (no 10%), and did so with a cheerful heart (1 Corinthians 16: 1,2). What differences the disciples had, they would resolve by conferences under apostolic authority. So why is this important? Because, over the two thousand years plus since Christ resurrection the church has become something much different than what these early apostles set up. We were told that they broke bread in remembrance of Christ on the first day of the week. That this was known as the Lord's day. That they studied together and fellowshipped together on this day. Why? So that the word of Christ would dwell in them richly in all wisdom, and so that they could go out and teach

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and admonish one another in psalms and hymns and in spiritual songs. They were to draw out of their faith all Christian graces and virtues and explain to the unbelievers that through grace, there was a promise to be a part of the everlasting kingdom of heaven.

There was another reason worship commenced on the first day—it put God first. A lesson sent out by the early church planters: God first and seek His will. The early church, as seen in I Timothy 5 took care of the children and elderly widows. Again, a precedent established. As Paul set up most of the new churches he made sure the leaders in the church were apostles, prophets, evangelists, elders, deacons, and various classes of helpers. The apostles must have seen the Christ before and after his resurrection. Therefore all twelve churches including Antioch had an apostle. Paul took the place of Judas Iscariot (Acts 9). Prophets assisted the apostles in starting and establishing the kingdom. Evangelist continued as preachers so long as the whole world has not been reached. Bishops, elders/overseers presided over the spiritual interests of congregations. And, the Deacons attended to the finances and benevolences of the church. Any Christian could help carry out the will and purpose of Christ, as the circumstances may demand, but, that order must be maintained in the Lord’s work. Evangelists (Preachers), elders, and deacons were the only authorized leaders. Individually the

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disciples are called Christians, saints, brethren; and in a collective capacity, church of Christ, or church of God. Troubling times were ahead for all the new churches. Christians often bore persecution and even death during the first 300 years after the resurrection of Christ. With the arrival of the new Emperor in 311 A.D. there was some new freedom, but there were problems as well. Constantine (image to the left), emperor of the Roman Empire from 311-327 A.D., adopted Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire. Many Historians see this as a tremendous positive change. But most, realize that this was the beginning of injecting heathen cusConstantine I

toms, procedures, and rituals into the church. The beautiful simplicity of original Christianity was perverted. And,

it would remain for many years to come. In many cases, it is still practiced today. Political changes invaded the church at this time as well. Bishops began having political authority over jurisdictions and sometimes many churches as the metropolitan areas grew up. Higher grade of eminence was accorded to the bishops and churches of principal cities. And, when the seat of the empire was moved from Rome to Constantinople, there came up a controversy so strong that it split the early church into the eastern Greek Catholic Church and the Western Roman

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Catholic Church. These churches kept excluding one another from apostolic type conferences until finally the division was made permanent. As the church grew in political power they began usurping the authority of Christ through popes and councils. In 1311 Clinical Baptisms (Sprinkling of water) replaced immersion baptism by order of the pope. In fact by 1500 the

Jesus After “Immersion” Baptism

so-called Roman Catholic Church had little resemblance to the New Testament Church from which she was started. No where in the New Testament Church were there ceremonies from old Jewish rites, heathen superstitions, ancient traditions, and political intrigues. There was no holy water, no fast of Lent, monastic vows, priestly vestments with the sign of the cross. There was no praying for the dead nor sacrifices made for the dead. There was no purgatory, paschal candles, invocation of saints, images and extreme unction. There were no wax candles, compulsory celibacy, assumption of temporal power, canonization of saints, redemption of penances, monasticism, auricular confessions, elevation of the host, Bible forbidden to laity, indulgences, rosary of the Virgin Mary, sale of indulgences, Papal usurpation, priest drinking the wine instead of the people, infant baptism, sprinkling water instead of immersion, Papal primacy, or tradition superior to the Scriptures. Indeed, there was very little the church of 1500 had in common with the original New Testament Church.

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It took centuries for the church to fall away and go into the wilderness. And, it would take centuries to return to apostolic teaching and simplicity. One of the first to question the church was John Wyclif. 150 years before Martin John Wyclif

Luther, Wyclif challenged the Roman Catholic Church.

He angered the papacy when he claimed papal decrees were not equal to the Holy Scriptures. He denied transubstantiation, condemned auricular confession; held that the power to bind and loose is of no effect unless it conforms to the doctrine of Christ; opposed the multiplied ranks of clergy—popes, cardinals, patriarchs, monks, and canons; repudiated the doctrine of indulgences, the celibacy of clergy and many other things. He angered the Roman Catholic Church when he translated the Scriptures into English in 1384. Many of his followers were burned or killed as heretics. Wyclif is known as the “Morning Star” of the Reformation. And while most scholars agree that while Wyclif started the changes, a German Monk by the name of Martin Luther was the author of real and substantive change in the church. In October 1517, Luther had become so enraged by the hypocrisy and evilness of the Roman Catholic Church that he nailed to his church door the celebrated theses, boldly

Martin Luther

denying the Pope’s right to sell indulgences, and declaring the remission of sins is

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from God only. When questioned by the Roman Catholic Church, Luther maintained that the Papacy was a development some centuries after the rise of Christianity, by human arrangement. At this, Pope Leo X had Luther excommunicated. Luther upped the Pope by burning his excommunication in the public square of Wittenberg. Luther continued to teach that salvation is a free gift from God and is received only by grace through faith in Jesus as redeemer from sin, NOT from good works. He claimed that the Bible (Scriptures) is the only source of divinely revealed knowledge and opposed sacerdotalism by considering all baptized Christians to be a holy priesthood. His translation of the Bible into German from Latin made it much more accessible for all to read. Indeed, the King James Bible in English used his translation as its primary reference. He also wrote hymns and began the movement to allow singing by the congregants in churches. His marriage to Katherarina von Bora set up a model not used by the clergy since it had been outlawed in the early days of the Roman Catholic Church. In this new church he helped establish, the Protestant priests could now marry and have children. The church he helped establish in now called the Lutheran Church. In other places around this time we can see God moving to reform His church. Huldrych (Ulrich) Zwingli of Switzerland became one such reformer. In his publications he wrote of the corruption in the ecclesiastical hierarchy, promoted 9

clerical marriage, and attacked the use of images in places of worship. He further preached against the use of robed clergy, worshippers were not permitted to go with palms or relics on Palm Sunday, and he abolished Candlemas as a celebration. Zwingli’s influence in some of today’s Christian Church, Church of Christ churches is seen in that he was the first to eliminate musical instruments stating that God had not

Huldrych Zwingli

commanded instrumental musical worship. John Calvin fled from persecution in France to Switzerland. He followed Saint Augustine rather than the Scriptures, so we have the doctrine of predestination. In Scotland his beliefs grew as did his followers establishing the Presbyterians. In England, King Henry VIII had dispute after dispute with the Roman Catholic Church until he basically abolished it and created the Church of England. An important change because this religious tyranny causing many to flee John Calvin

to the New World seeking religious freedom.

And we could go on and on. John Wesley and so many more great reformers trying to return the church to the church of the New Testament or better known as the Pauline Church after the apostle Paul. 10

King Henry VIII

These reformers helped established Missionaries and Evangelist who would come to the New World to establish religion among the savages. The 1700’s are known as religions’ “Walk in the Wilderness” period. No one church dominated during this period. But a new reformation was coming. In 1870, a committee of dedicated Ohio pioneer disciples (as the brothers and sisters in Christ were now calling themselves) from the Ohio Christian Missionary Society gave fraternal greeting to the Baptists of Ohio. Some of the men composing this committee were Isaac Errett (one of the founders of Standard Publishing Company and, whose grandson met with the folks in July 1909 along with Alex Harvuot at the College Hill Town Hall), R.R. Sloan, R.M. Bishop, Thomas Munnell, B.A. Hinsdale and W.T. Moore. In their greeting they stated: “As a people, we are seeking the restoThomas Munnell A.C.M.S.

ration of the Christianity of the New Testament, in letter and in spirit, in principle and in practice. We clearly see to be involved in this overthrow of denominationalism, the repudiation of human 11

creeds as authoritative expressions of faith or bonds of fellowship, the annihilation of party names, and the reunion of God’s scattered people in one body, under the leadership of Jesus the Christ, that they may be bound together simply by a common faith in the Lord Jesus and a common loyalty to him as their only sovereign, and with one mind, and one heart strive together for the faith of the gospel. In view of the terrible apostasy which all find embodied in the Church in Rome, we look with lively sympathy on every Protestant movement tending away from Babylon and toward Jerusalem. From the time of Wyclif down, we pause to praise God for every glorious revolutionary movement that tends to break the spell of priestly authority and guide captive souls into the light of God’s word. We rejoice today in every indication of restlessness and disquiet among Protestant sects which renews the protest against human authority and sighs for a purer and completer loyalty to Jesus than Protestantism has yet reached; and we are confident that God has among these great Protestant parties, a people yet to be called out from remaining errors and corruptions and enrolled under the glorious old banner which the apostles unfurled in Jerusalem. But, we are compelled to regard all these Protestant movements as unsatisfactory; and while gratefully recognizing the obligations we are under to men and the parties that urged on the work of the reformation, alike among the Lutheranism Episcopalians, Presbyterians, independents, and Methodists, we are still constrained to regard their best

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performances as falling short of the desired object, if the restoration of primitive Christianity is had in view as the great object to be attained. As movements tending onward toward the grand object sought, we have pleasure in them; but as furnishing the consummation so devoutly wished for, we are compelled to repudiate them. The church of Christ and the Christianity of the New Testament, pure and simple, are not found in any of these sects today, nor can they be found in any possible combination of sects.” Has not the time come when the church of Christ shall be called out of Babylon—and the wilderness of creeds? The New World Reformation had come to our area. And many were now poised to move the Campbellite movement forward.

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