The humble beginnings of Christiansburg CCCU as a house-church, and the subsequent moves to bigger facilities is chronicled in this story by Susan Berner with the help of her daughter, Marjorie Schaefer.

As I Remember

By Susan Berner One Saturday in the year of 1932, Hazel Lefever stopped by and asked if our children could come to Sunday School. The Sunday School was being held in a house on Monroe Street here in Christiansburg. We consented, so Hazel started picking Marjorie and John up each Sunday morning. That's how they got started. Later, Cy, my husband and I started attending the Sunday evening services, still in the house on Monroe Street. One week I attended the mid week prayer meeting alone. I remember two young sisters who came into the service that evening. In that service, the oldest girl went to the alter. These two girls were Miriam Heckman and her sister Mary Ann. Miriam was to become one of our early missionaries. The first from our church. As time went by, in about 1934, the vision to have a church building developed. It was decided that it would be on Lincoln Street, and the building still stands. A cement mixer was needed, so we loaned them one. The men, most of whom would work through the day, would gather at the building site to work in the evening. This continued until the building was completed. However, there was no floor, so they hauled sawdust from the sawmill just south of town and covered the floor space. I recall they sewed heavy burlap sacks together to cover the saw dust until a floor could be laid. When winter came, the building was heated with a big coal stove on the northwest side of the church, not far from the platform, and another stove on the southeast side of the building. As time went by and money came in, they eventually poured a slab of cement and installed a furnace to heat the building. Leland Everett and Cy Berner laid up the chimney. As soon as they moved from the house to the building on Lincoln Street, trustees were appointed: Rev. Lefever, Earl Gates, Cy Berner, Roy Heckman, Emerson Heckman and Leland Everett, as I recall. Then they held a tent meeting. The tent was set up just north of the building, but the church was used for a place of prayer. Rev. Thomas Hermiz was the evangelist. Many have referred to those days as great days of revival and awakenings. As years passed by, we joined the Church Of Christ In Christian Union. I well remember the day we moved from Lincoln Street to Panhandle Road. We all met at Lincoln Street and had prayer. Some drove their cars, but many of us walked to the new site. We choir members took our place in the choir loft for the first service. It was a great and exciting time for everyone.