Chisholm Trail Church of Christ occupies 45 acres along East 37th Street North in Wichita, Kansas, at 5833 E. 37th St. N. Its story begins with a tent meeting on Eleventh and Indiana in 1932, and the church is known for a Metropolitan Chorus that has sung the gospel since 1966, a Food Distribution Program that delivers a hot meal downtown every Monday evening, and an Open Door Pantry that opens twice a month for families. Sunday begins with Bible classes for all ages at 9:00 a.m., moves into worship at 10:00 a.m., and returns for evening worship at 5:00 p.m.
A Church Born Under a Tent in 1932
In 1932 Marshall Keeble, described as a dedicated world-wide evangelist, was invited to preach the gospel to black Wichitans by two existing congregations in the city. A tent meeting was set up on the corner of Eleventh and Indiana, and many came to hear the gospel. As a result, thirty-five souls obeyed the gospel and the black church grew out of that great tent meeting.
That August the congregation rented Jack Wheeler Hall at 13th and Wabash as a place of worship. A year later the church was fully organized with proper leadership. As the congregation increased, it became evident by early 1934 that better facilities were needed, so a building at 11th and Wabash was rented. Later that year a lot was purchased at 1135 Wabash and a church building was moved from Rose Hill, Kansas onto that lot. In 1952 the Eleventh and Hydraulic property was purchased for the growing congregation, and elders and deacons were appointed as the membership grew. The church has been blessed with help from many outstanding ministers throughout the years.
The Caravan to East 37th Street North
Continued growth brought the purchase of 45 acres on East 37th St. North, where a ground breaking ceremony was held in the summer of 1986. Two years later, on June 12, the congregation drove in a caravan from the 11th and Hydraulic building to attend the first worship service in the new building, with Bro. Robert Clemons as the minister at that time. Two more buildings have been added since the church settled on East 37th Street North.
The church serves the community through its Food Distribution and Homeless programs. Weekly visitation groups serve the congregation, souls are being taught, and plans continue for doing "what doth says the Lord."
Sunday at Nine, Ten, and Five
Sunday is layered from the first hour. Bible classes for all ages begin at 9:00 a.m., the congregation gathers for morning worship at 10:00 a.m., and evening worship begins at 5:00 p.m. The 10:00 a.m. service is carried live, with the broadcast opening at 9:45 a.m. Central and worship beginning promptly at 10:00, and earlier services can be watched as well through the live service. Ushers collect the communion trays at the close of worship, and Elder Dennis Henry oversees the order of worship, the song leaders, and the song and prayer service.
Wednesday Night Bible Study for Every Age
Wednesday night Bible study starts at 7:00 p.m. with Bible classes for all ages. The education department is chaired by Ken Neely, and its aim is to teach people how to have a growing relationship with Jesus Christ while here on earth and to obtain eternal salvation through obedience to God's word. The schedule includes a middle school Wednesday class, a married couples class, and a New Convert class that several students have continued attending as they grow. Men gather monthly through the Authentic Manhood class, led by Todd Barnes, for encouragement, honest conversation, and a clearer picture of biblical manhood modeled by Jesus Christ. A Hermeneutics class studies the principles and process of biblical interpretation, treating it as both a science with ordered rules and an art that has to be applied, so members are equipped to study and teach God's word to others.
Nursery, Children's Church, and Youth from Kindergarten Through High School
Elder Clarence Pelton established a Children's Church worship hour in 1972, when he was a deacon and the education director, and Children's Church continues to thrive. He oversees the nursery and preschool classes that meet at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, along with the greeters and ushers and the health ministry. Deacons Anthony Dozier and Anthony Hardrick also carry responsibilities for Children's Church and the youth chorus, and Deacon Cornelius Adkins serves as youth director.
The youth statement says plainly that the work covers young people from kindergarten through high school. Those students are treated as a part of the church now and to come, and the aim is to encourage them to lead a Godly life, to develop a relationship with God, and to find answers and tools for the everyday issues they face.
The Metropolitan Chorus: The Gospel in Song Since 1966
The Metropolitan Chorus of Wichita began in 1966 under the musical direction of Sis. Lois (Watkins) Johnson, and during her thirty-year tenure the choir became known for spreading the gospel in song throughout Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Missouri. Its membership of both African-Americans and Caucasians was described as unprecedented for that time.
Requests for the chorus led to concerts in a variety of venues, including Southwestern Christian College, federal and state penitentiaries, prison ministries sponsored by Churches of Christ, and tours across the United States. In 1971 Bro. and Sis. Maurice Hall of Allen Park, Michigan arranged and directed a campaign tour of six countries in Europe, where the chorus sang in conservatories, halls, and churches of Christ. The group appeared on television and recorded six albums. Two of them, The Sound of the Metropolitan Chorus and Movin' on Up, were digitally transferred to one CD that remains available for purchase. Melvina Nelson directs the chorus today. Alongside it, the church has an adult chorus, a youth chorus, and song leaders who guide congregational singing, and its music list includes hymns such as "Old Ship of Zion," "Battle Hymn of the Republic," "He'll Understand," "Let Us Break Bread Together," and "In the Garden."
Meals Downtown on Mondays and the Open Door Pantry
The Food Distribution Program is one of the clearest ways the church reaches beyond its own congregation. Its Homeless Program, established more than thirty years ago, prepares a nutritious home-cooked meal at the church building and delivers it to a designated place downtown every Monday evening from April through mid-November. The program feeds 70 to 90 homeless men, women, and children each Monday evening.
The Open Door Pantry opens from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. on the second and fourth Thursday of each month. Families receive canned goods, dry meals, fresh produce, bread, meat, and personal items, with an average of 100 families served a month. Volunteers and staff from the congregation carry out both efforts, which are supported by the church and other organizations and are on track to provide more than 5,000 meals a year. Willie Wade coordinates the food program, and Elder Anthony Hardrick serves on the food program committee with Elnita Johnson, LaDonna Dozier, and LoRetta Shine. Support for the work of the church can be given through online giving.
Care Groups, Thursday Visitation, and the Ladies Committees
Care Groups exist for the purpose of applying God's word to life. Simply hearing the word is not enough, the church says, because fruit comes from application. The groups apply biblical teaching, review Sunday messages, and discuss church growth with a variety of resources so that members grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. They also create what cannot always happen in a large crowd: intimate relationships, care for one another, and prayer for one another. Care Group leaders are LaVance Adkins, Rickey Johnson, Charles Washington, Raymond Fowler, and Julian Bruner.
On Thursdays the elders and other brothers of the congregation visit members as a group, going to hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and the homes of those who are ill. They sing and pray and offer spiritual encouragement, and they also reach members in bereavement or in need of encouragement. A Ladies Visitation Committee does similar work for sisters in the hospital, at home, in nursing homes, and in rehabilitation facilities, praying, reading scripture, singing praises, and helping with food or light house cleaning when needed.
Other committees handle the practical work of the church. The Ladies Education Committee strengthens Christian women of all ages through Bible classes, seminars, conferences, and workshops, and sponsors an annual Ladies Day seminar. Ladies Fellowship organizes gatherings such as baby showers, wedding showers, a mother and daughter banquet, volleyball, pot luck affairs, and outings. The Kitchen and Food Committee prepares meals for funerals, prepares lunch for cleanup day, keeps the kitchen stocked and clean, and assists other committees that need food. A Ladies Baptism Committee assists with baptisms and keeps garments and towels washed and dried at the church, a Publicity Committee keeps the foyer boards current, and the Health Department works to promote physical, emotional, and spiritual health through education and community resources while recognizing God's healing power.
Elders, Deacons, and Minister Barry L. Gainey
Barry L. Gainey is the church's minister. A native of Rochester, New York, born April 17, 1961, he was baptized into Christ on April 21, 1971, at the Northside Church of Christ, where Bro. E.D. Brown served as minister.
- Bro. Clarence Pelton has been an elder for 42 years and was ordained in 1974 by minister Kennard Smith. He oversees the greeters and ushers, the health ministry, the 10:00 a.m. nursery and preschool classes, and teaches the adult Bible class.
- Bro. Frank Wooden was ordained an elder in 1978 by Bro. Robert Byas and oversees the bus program, the adult chorus, the education department, and the New Convert class.
- Bro. Ivory Lifsey, ordained under Bro. Robert Clemons, works with finance, office staff, funerals, church fellowship, ladies committees, buildings and grounds, and the daycare board, and he teaches an adult Bible class.
- Bro. Dennis Henry was ordained in August 2011 by Bro. Roy Montgomery and oversees the order of worship, song leaders, the song and prayer service, and the seniors ministry while teaching an adult Bible class.
- Bro. Anthony Hardrick, also ordained in August 2011 by Bro. Roy Montgomery, oversees Children's Worship, the benevolence program, the youth chorus, and publicity, and he teaches adult Bible classes.
- Bro. Cornelius Adkins serves as a deacon with responsibility for the youth director and youth chorus roles and as a song leader.
- Bro. Todd Barnes serves as a deacon for married couples, the Authentic Manhood class, and the adult Bible school.
- Bro. Anthony Dozier serves as a deacon with responsibility for benevolence, Children's Church, the middle school Wednesday Bible class, assisting with church finance, and song leading.
Bro. Roy Montgomery of the Estes Park Church of Christ in Oklahoma City ordained two of the church's elders and has preached as a guest speaker, as has Bro. Robert L. Clemons of Albany, Georgia. Written messages from the minister's desk and from Sunday services are kept in the church's sermon messages.
At the Door: Ushers, Greeters, and Visitor Follow-Up
Ten ushers serve the congregation and help services run in a decent and orderly way. They escort guests to their seats, monitor for parents who need assistance with children, attend to people who need medical assistance, and help the elderly and those with handicaps. They escort attendees to safety exits in a fire or tornado, collect the communion trays, and monitor the parking lot and the church building for safety, responding to medical problems and emergency calls with the church's medical staff. Jerry Shine coordinates the team with Rickey Nelson as assistant coordinator.
About thirty greeters begin their work before worship and continue until after scripture and prayer. One greeter opens the door and welcomes people as they arrive, while another hands out bulletins, offers visitor cards and visitor packets, and records names in the guest book. Some visitors prefer not to fill out a card, and the cards that are completed are given to the elder of the day so that visitors can be recognized. Sis. Terry Hervey follows up with letters to visitors, thanking them for their visit and inviting them to come again. The church's own invitation reads, "COME VISIT WITH US WHERE YOU ARE A STRANGER BUT ONCE!" A short welcome video explains what to expect on a first visit.
What Chisholm Trail Believes
The church's motto is "One Lord One Faith One Baptism = One Church," and its mission is to inspire and empower every member of the body of Christ for effective evangelism, life-changing ministry, loving Christian fellowship, and spirit-led worship that glorifies God.
The gospel, the church teaches, is for all. It is free, because the poor have the gospel preached to them; plain, so that the uneducated can understand it; equalizing, raising the humble and humbling the proud; powerful, strengthening the weak; encouraging the depressed; comforting the sorrowful; and compensating, rewarding obedient believers for works of faith and labors of love. The church holds that the New Testament church was founded by Jesus Christ, who purchased it with his own blood and is its head and chief authority, and that its foundation is Christ rather than any person or man-made doctrine. Transformation, in the minister's words, begins with the renewing of the mind and continues through prayer, Bible study, worship, Bible class attendance, and sharing the word of God with others.
The Sunday gathering at 5833 E. 37th St. N remains the center of it all: classes at 9:00 a.m., worship at 10:00 a.m., and again at 5:00 p.m., with the Metropolitan Chorus, the care groups, the food program, and the visitation teams running alongside.