Olsen Park Church Of Christ "Wildcat Or Grizzly Bear"?
The following announcement was printed and mailed to various churches of Christ in Amarillo, Texas, the week prior to February 26, 1956:
"A New Church Of Christ In Amarillo"
"The Elders of the Pleasant Valley Church of Christ "ANNOUNCE
"The starting of a New Congregation to begin February 26, 1956, to meet in Amarillo Little Theatre, 2019 Civic Circle, Wolflin Village, Amarillo, Texas.
"Luther G. Roberts, Evangelist, who recently moved to Amarillo from Borger, has been invited to preach for this new congregation.
Services Sunday:
| Bible Study: | 10:00 am. |
| Worship: | 10:50 a.m. |
| Worship: | 7:30 p.m." |
This announcement was also run as an advertisement in the Amarillo daily newspaper. The congregation was started according to the announcement. The Pleasant Valley church paid for the advertisements, furnished song books, and bought communion supplies, including trays, glasses, bread plates and contribution plates for the congregation. Under the direction of the elders of the Pleasant Valley church the new church was planned and at a meeting called by the elders of Pleasant Valley church some 13 families were represented and stated their intentions of going with the new work to be started in the southwest section of the city of Amarillo, Texas. The elders expressly stated that the work was not started in opposition to any other congregation in Amarillo, nor were members from other congregations in the city invited to become members of the new congregation. It was started because there was a need for a church of Christ in this part of Amarillo and because several of the members of the Pleasant Valley congregation were driving some six to ten miles to worship with this congregation. This can be verified by any one who is interested by calling or writing the elders of the Pleasant Valley Church, Amarillo, Texas.
In Vol. 73, No. 25 of the FIRM FOUNDATION, June 19, 1956, page 395, Brother Cleon Lyles had an article titled "WILD CAT OR GRIZZLY BEAR?" Among other things the article contained the following statement: "How are congregations to be established where they are needed? It would seem that in a city where there is a congregation, or a number of congregations, that any movement should have the backing of a well-established congregation. In this way good congregations can be built and harmony can be maintained."
Although one may not agree with Brother Lyles' conclusions as to just how a new church of Christ is to be started, at least, the way suggested above is the exact way the WOLFLIN VILLAGE CHURCH was started. The method of the elders of one church planning with its own members and defraying the expenses to start another congregation in a city where in the judgment of the elders there is a need for such is not questioned by any one as to the rightness of it so far as is known to me. Yet, some have reported from the beginning that the Wolflin Village church was a faction and not scriptural. But it was started in the exact way that Brother Lyles approves and commends. Any one interested in this can find this to be true by contacting the elders of the Pleasant Valley Church, and surely none is more qualified to give the correct facts than are the elders of the church that planned and started the new church.
One writer wrote with reference to the Wolflin Village Church: "Recently an intensive campaign was carried on among the members of this church by a group that exists because of opposition to the work at Central." (Central Church in Amarillo, Texas.) The writer of this statement cannot prove the things he asserts because he cannot know this to be true unless the elders of the Pleasant Valley Church so state, but to the contrary this they expressly deny.
The Wolflin Village Church has officially changed the name of the congregation to Olsen Park Church of Christ, Andrews and Sunlite Streets, Amarillo, Texas. The reason for the change in name is that the church has bought 1.99 acres of land in Olsen Park addition to the city of Amarillo, Texas, on which to erect a meeting house for said church. This land has been paid for by the congregation with some contributions from other interested members of the church in Amarillo, some of them incidentally from Central Church. These contributions from members of other congregations were unsolicited, not that it would have been wrong to solicit from members of other congregations, for other congregations in Amarillo have done this, but it just so happens that these contributions were not solicited by the Wolflin Village, now Olsen Park Church of Christ.
Not only has the land mentioned above been paid for but the plans for the first unit of the meeting house have been drawn and paid for and have been submitted to contractors for bids on the actual cost of construction. The Olsen Park Church is meeting in the Coronado public school building and will continue to meet here until the house that is planned is erected.
The congregation started on February 26, 1956 with 38 members and there are now 108 names on the roll of persons who have identified themselves with the congregation or have been baptized and thereby become members of the church. However, there are only 101 members of the church at present as one member was lost by death, four moved elsewhere, and two members were "proselytized" by a preacher in the city.
If you are visiting in Amarillo, Texas, you are invited to worship with the Olsen Park Church of Christ, meeting in the school building at 34th and Georgia Streets.