Our story

It started with a few families

In 1966, a few families on the south side of Jacksonville felt God nudging them toward something new. They had no building and no budget. They had a name, First Christian Church, and a willingness to show up.

In February 1967 they called their first minister, Ray Bowen. In 1968 they voted to buy land on Vandalia and Diamond Street, and a year later they walked into their first building. They added classrooms and a larger worship center in 1976, and a fellowship hall in 1979. In July 2004, the church voted to buy 20 acres in South Jacksonville.

The fire

On November 29, 2010, an electrical short in the baptistry heater started a fire that tore through the sanctuary where people had worshiped for over 40 years.

That Christmas Eve, nearly 500 people packed into the Turner Junior High gymnasium. They lit candles in the dark and sang anyway. One person said it best that night: "It's not the building, it's the people."

For the next two years, the church met in the Jacksonville High School auditorium and then at Grace United Methodist Church. In June 2012 we broke ground on the 20 acres bought years earlier, and on August 4, 2013, the doors opened on our new building in South Jacksonville.

Still building

Since then, 1C has kept reaching out: feeding the hungry, writing to prisoners, standing with the grieving and sending people across the world in Jesus' name.

When God's people step out in faith, even with nothing but a shovel and a promise, He builds something that lasts. 60 years down, but the best is yet to come.