History :

At what point in time members of the Lord's church came to the Waco area has proved to be an illusive fact. It is clear that Christians came to Waco, a profoundly Baptist town, long ago and have been there probably since the founding of the city. Though known for the oldest and largest Baptist University in the world established in the 1850's, Baylor University, there were sixteen churches of Christ in the Waco area at the beginning of 2007.

My knowledge of the congregations here can only go back as far as 1958 when my father moved to the area to preach for what was known as the Lakeview church of Christ which was located in what is now known as Lacy-Lakeview on the north side of Waco. I have heard the Columbus Ave. congregation referred to as "the mother church" and that the Herring Ave. and Robinson churches of Christ came from there; perhaps others did as well.

In the late 1950's the church of Christ nationwide was reaching a crescendo in its turmoil over "the issues." An innovation had been introduced from Abilene Christian College (University, these days). This innovation, still practiced today, is known as "the sponsoring church arrangement." It was the means to fund large works that individual congregations could never afford. The main one was known as "The Herald of Truth" by the Highland church of Christ in Abilene, Texas. This ambitious program had a huge price tag and the Highland congregation wanted hundreds of churches to send money to that congregation and so share in that effort. Eventually other programs were paid for in the same way, like church support of private orphan homes run by Christians. Another issue, was that Highland church of Christ wanted to be the "head" church in that they would be involved in the directing of other congregation's affairs. This included the selection of preachers, evaluating them for continued financial support and many other intrusions that violate the autonomy of local churches as the New Testament shows them to be.