By GREG MILLER
STAR Correspondent
The history of First Christian Church, Elizabethton, can be traced all the way back to the late 1800s.
According to a church history, that’s when Sunday school classes were first held in the home of Ann Jett.
In 1891, the church history continues, “a small group of seven met in a small building on Elk Avenue.”
The cornerstone for the present site was laid on Oct. 6, 1903. On Feb. 14, 1904, the Sunday Bible School was formally organized with 54 members present. The first church building was dedicated on May 29, 1904. In 1932, the church building was lifted up and a new church foundation was laid. The building exterior was bricked.
The church started West Side Christian Church in 1933, East Side Christian Church in 1934 and with John Hall as the evangelist, the church started South Side Christian Church in 1935. “Also in 1935, J. Willis Hale became the church’s ‘living link’ missionary. He is still supported by the church. (Much of this work was accomplished under the ministry of J.J. Musick, who became minister in 1928.) Fred W. Smith became the church’s minister in 1945, and East Tennessee Christian Home was established.
Other highlights of the church include starting East River Park Christian Church in 1966, under the ministry of J. Donald Sams, and purchasing an Allen Digital Computer Organ in 1990. The church celebrated its centennial year in 1991.
Mr. Michael Klaus, the church’s senior minister, describes how he began his walk with the Lord. “My Christian walk started at a revival meeting and I made my decision for Christ,” he said. “I was baptized by a friend for the remission of my sins. I was not a Christian growing up and it took a young Christian woman I was dating to dump me and say, ‘Jesus is more important to me than you are’ — to lead me to that place of decision. I was discipled as a Christian at Florida State University at a Christian Church campus ministry there.”
John 4:1-30, the story of where Jesus encountered the woman at the well, is Klaus’ favorite Scripture on which to preach. “The reason it is my favorite is that Jesus is so compassionate with this woman even in her sin,” he said. “He also draws her in to say straightforward that He is the Messiah the Savior of the World (John 4:26) and she accepts that truth.”
For Klaus, the woman at the well is also the most interesting character for him to study. “This is the longest conversation with Jesus recorded in the New Testament, and it shows Christ’s compassion for a woman who is so far from a holy life and He invites her in again and again to understand who He is. Her exchange with Jesus is so rich with the same doubts and problems people have today. If we can understand her and also understand Christ’s love for her, many more Christians would reach out and many more un-churched people would reach out for Jesus and say what the women at the well said, ‘Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did.’” John 4:29a.
Klaus says he enjoyed the experience of being able to preach in Mexico. “I love the time I have been able to preach in Mexico,” he said. “The people in Mexico are so receptive and attentive. They will travel hundreds of miles to hear Biblical teaching for a seminar or special training. The family is so important in Mexico and no one is in a hurry to get out of church. The Christians in Mexico are joyful and quite frankly happier than most American Christians I have met. One time in Mexico I was preaching in a very rural church that did not have windows, but just square holes in the concrete blocks for where the windows will be in the future. On this chilly Sunday morning, the whole village could hear our voices as we sang worship songs and we could hear all the village animals as well. The time came for me to preach. I was so proud of myself because I had worked on the opening of the sermon in Spanish as to make a connection to the Spanish-speaking crowd. As I finished my opening in Spanish there was a long pause and as if to say ‘Amen’ a donkey brayed (hee-haw) loudly right outside the window. Everyone laughed.”
Doctrine, according to Klaus, is not hard to teach. “I think the Bible is clear,” he said. “There is some Biblical doctrine that many people have a hard time accepting. One example of this is the teachings that address what a Biblical marriage looks like. It is very hard for some to accept. I love the teachings of God in His Word and want everyone to be blessed by them. But many people try to redefine and place their ideas over the clear teaching of scripture. I know in a society that is self-defining, I am so glad some issues have already been defined for us. I am so thankful that we still can teach that here in East Tennessee and in America.”
Klaus describes the most important aspect of a local church’s ministry in today’s society. “The church is the agent of grace and love in the community,” he said. “We know that government, schools and businesses are just providing services we pay for. The church provides help, love and a place to belong. I don’t know about you, but I don’t go back to the DMV for fellowship or connection. So many families in Carter County benefit from ministries in the churches of Carter County with food pantries and benevolence funds but there is so much more if they would not see the church just as an agency for help. The church thorough Christ is the only place where real help and change can come from.”
Klaus discusses the issue of a church being an agent of change in its community. “Local congregations are supposed to bring change to the community but in ways that are deeper than just providing for the needy and a place to worship,” he said. “Many churches can get confused and become a place to see social justice lived out or try to make all people equal. But that’s not our job. Jesus told us to preach the gospel, teach them and baptize people. (Matt 28:18-20).”
He continued, “The change that is needed is to have every pew, seat, bench and aisle filled with people hearing about Jesus Christ. The change that is needed is that every church needs to stand together and say, ‘People of Carter County, there is a seat for you!’ We have thousands of seats for you in all the various churches of Carter County and I know that Baptist, Methodist, Christian churches, etc., have empty pews that they want to be filled with people not just seeking physical help but truly seeking God. We as churches in Carter County all need this theme … ‘There is a Place for You!’ (literally) God has placed all of us here at this time, in this place, for a reason, and He has placed each church here at this time to minister and share Christ. The people and the church just need to come together. Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.’”
Klaus describes his preaching style. “My preaching style is expository from a passage from the Bible and I use a thread story to align with the Scripture to draw people to the truth of the passage. I use videos, songs and personal examples to get the message across with a joke thrown in once in a while.”
Worship opportunities at First Christian Church include, Sunday worship, 9:45 a.m. and 6 p.m.; 11 a.m. Sunday Bible School; and Bible study, Wednesday, 6 p.m. The 10 a.m. Tuesday prayer group has been canceled until February because the leader had an accident and is going through the healing process.
Klaus’ wife, the former Melanie Walters, is in school, training to become a lab technician. The couple’s daughter, Katie, attends East Tennessee State University and currently has a marketing internship at Blackburn, Childers and Stegall, CPAs. The couple’s son, Jonathan, attends Elizabethton High School.
Church staff includes Eric Dunlap, youth minister; Rachel Dunlap, children’s director; Gene Estep, choir director and organist; Carolyn Estep, pianist; office administrator, Nancy Campbell; and custodian, Debbie Woods.
First Christian Church of Elizabethton, an independent Christian church congregation, is located at 513 Hattie Ave., Elizabethton.
For more information, call 423-542-5651, email fccelizabethton@gmail.com visit the church’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/fccelizabethton or visit the website, FCCElizabethton.com. The website needs some editing.