1 Sep 2008
Early in the year 1908 a man named Aaron Mulkey sensed God’s leading and brought his family to Oregon from California with the vision of establishing a new congregation on the north bank of the Clackamas River. This new body of believers was a part of the Restoration Movement which had been started by Barton W. Stone and Alexander Campbell 99 years earlier in the American frontier of Kentucky, West Virginia and Ohio. This new ministry began in a tent with 55 original members, was called the Church of Christ of Gladstone, and is the oldest congregation in Gladstone (and actually is three years older than the city itself!). This month, we who are the spiritual descendents of that humble beginning, celebrate the centennial of this Christian witness and ministry. All year we have been looking back over the past century through our Centennial Moments, and will conclude at our 100th Anniversary Banquet and Program with a time of reminiscing with friends old and new, and reciting our stories.
For perspective let’s start by looking at the year 1908 to see what was happening the year this church was started. In 1908 the U.S. had 46 states and boasted a population of 90 million (less than 1/3 of what it is today), and William Howard Taft would be elected our 27th President, succeeding Teddy Roosevelt. 1908 was the year the new year ball was first dropped at Times Square, the Boy Scouts were created, Mother’s Day was first observed, the Enckes Comet erupted as a giant fireball over Siberia, Robert Peary set off for the North Pole and the first Gideon Bible was put into a hotel room. Transportation firsts include the founding of General Motors, the introduction of the Ford Model T, the first trans-continental car trip (in a Packard) and the first passenger air flight. In sports the Montreal Wanderers won the Stanley Cup, Stone Street won the Kentucky Derby, London hosted the fourth modern Olympics, the Chicago Cubs won the World Series (they haven’t won since), the song Take Me Out to the Ballgame was written, the University of Pittsburg was the first team to wear numerals on their football uniforms, and Jack Johnson became the first black heavyweight champion knocking out Tommy Burns. Notable births that year include Bette Davis, Edward R. Murrow, Estee Lauder, Jimmy Stewart, Lawrence Welk, Louis L’Amour, Lyndon B. Johnson, Milton Berle, Rex Harrison, Rosalind Russell, Thurgood Marshall, William Randolph Hearst, Jr., Eddie Albert, Lefty Gomez, Ethel Merman, Greer Garson and Carole Lombard. Also Grover Cleveland, our 22nd and 24th President, died that year.
In Oregon George Chamberlin was the governor of our state that was one year shy of its 50th birthday and had a population of around 670,000. Hood River became our 34th county by vote of the people (two more were added later), and that fall the University of Oregon went 5-2 including an 8-0 victory over Oregon Agricultural College (now O.S.U.) who had a season record of 4-3-1.
And what of some of our past members that many of us will remember? At the time of the establishment of this congregation Al Herrin would be born later in the year, Marvel Teeters was 1 year old, Hazel May was 2, Ethyl Lance, 3, Fannie Nelson, 4, Iva Eatinger and Helen Quigley were both 8, our last Charter Member Gladys Meyers (who died in 1999 at the age of 101) was 9, Vern Quigley, 10, and Charles Dicken and James Perchal were both 12 years old.
See, a church isn’t born in a vacuum, but is one of many events and moments in history. Now while our birth and existence won’t make any national highlight list, and we are not even close to being one of the oldest congregations in Oregon, we are here by the Grace of God, and for His purpose and pleasure. That’s why we celebrate this milestone by also looking ahead, by being reminded of why God has us in this place and time, and by faithfully following to wherever God will lead. We are, after all, His Church, His people, and our history is really His Story, a story of 100 years of redemption and service to the people who we have met, encountered, loved and served. And it really is just a part of a much larger story, one that began long before 1908, and will continue for as long as the Lord calls us to be faithful and ready to be a legacy for Christ in this community.
Denis Whittet
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