Cedar Rapids Central Church of Christ

To truly love God by following Jesus

 

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The Family at the Central Church of Christ

Central Church of Christ was founded in 1939. During the first 10 years, members met for worship and study in a variety of locations, including living rooms across the city.

In the 1940s the congregation purchased land and established a permanent location on First Ave in Cedar Rapids. In 1960 they completed construction on our current auditorium. The congregation continued to grow and prosper, and in 1976 added an education wing and fellowship hall to the existing facility.

Currently, membership at Central is about 200 people, making us one of the largest Churches of Christ in the state of Iowa, with approximately 50 who are age 18 and under. We are led by 3 elders and 13 deacons.

We have two paid ministers. Dr. Terry Seufferlein is a graduate of York College and Abilene Christian University. He recently was awarded his PhD from ACU, specializing in spiritual formation. He is active in preaching, teaching, and serves the congregation in all areas of need. He and his family have been with Central since July of 1999. Norman Bales was minister at Central for 15 1/2 years before leaving in 1992. He has since retired from full time ministry, and he and his wife, Ann, moved back to Cedar Rapids in 2008. He accepted a position to serve as a part time minister and is active teaching classes, filling in on Sunday mornings, and ministering to the church and community.

Our Mission statement expresses the desire / focus of our congregation: To truly love God by following Jesus and helping all people to become like Him. Or more simply, to Love God, Live for Jesus, and Lead others to Him.

Over the years, Central Church of Christ has been very active in serving our community as well as supporting various mission efforts. In addition to our food pantry and other benevolence work, we hold a “Giveaway” three times a year where members of the community are invited in to get clothing and household goods as they have a need. Typically 400-500 people are served each time. At our annual Thanksgiving dinner members from the congregation serve a free meal to anyone from the community who wishes to come. We have supported ministers in the Ukraine, Kenya, and Honduras as well as supported other churches in the state of Iowa.

During the record floods in Cedar Rapids in 2008, Central Church of Christ was blessed (because of our location) to be able to serve the community. First as a staging area for the city to sent out crews to sandbag and evacuate areas in preparation for the floods, and then as a warehouse to supply people with necessities provided by the Church of Christ Disaster Relief organization. In addition, we hosted the Churches of Christ Disaster Response Team (DRT) who organized groups from churches around the country to send people to help with cleaning up, rebuilding, and providing for people who lost homes and jobs as a result of the floods. We continue to support the DRT as they have continued their work in other parts of the country that are in need.

With approximately 4000 houses and countless businesses affected by the floods, even at this time there are still a multitude of opportunities in the Cedar Rapids community to minister to a large number of people in need.

At Central we also enjoy fellowship with each other through a number of yearly activities. A couple of times a year we convert the fellowship hall into a coffee house complete with poetry and/or music to raise funds to support missions in Kenya. A couple of favorite activities are the annual sledding party (when there’s enough snow) and the annual Super Bowl party. We’ve even had the occasional church-wide dodgeball tournament.


About the Churches of Christ

Approximately 1,500 churches across the country and 1.25 million individuals identify themselves with the Churches of Christ, a group of independent congregations that are locally governed.

The church of Christ first came into existence in the first century. During the early years of the 19th century a very strong historical movement often referred to as the Restoration Movement was begun by several prominent church leaders. The movement's intent was to look solely to the Bible, specifically to the New Testament, for guidance concerning how Christians should live, the means by which a relationship with God is established and nurtured, and how Christians should express their faith through in worship and daily living.

Today, churches of Christ maintain much of their heritage from these early years. Churches of our fellowship exist in all 50 states, though are most numerous in southern states. The vast majority of local congregations consist of 100 or fewer members, though some have several thousand members.

Churches of Christ are often distinguished by the belief that the Bible is to be literally interpreted and is the exclusive word of God. As such, many of our practices are founded in our understanding of Biblical teaching. Bible study and a reliance on scripture for making lifestyle decisions is prevalent.

Churches of Christ also exist throughout the world, the result of missionary work supported by local churches. In addition, many private schools, as well as colleges and universities, maintain ties with the churches of Christ.

  

 
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