History

A Tale of Two Churches

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

St. Peter's First Community Church has a history that really involves two Huntington churches sitting within blocks of each other. The first of these, the German Reformed Church, was organized in 1856. For the first few years the congregation held services on Sunday afternoons in a chapel owned by the Christian denomination. In 1857 Henry Drover donated a building lot at the intersection of Henry Street and Etna Avenue where the first church building was constructed in 1859. A schoolhouse and a parsonage were added in 1869. 

After the turn of the century it was resolved to remove the church building and erect a new church, which was dedicated on June 19, 1904. This is the building we worship in today.

MEANWHILE

In 1891 the Huntington Christian Church was organized. The earliest services were held at the old Baptist Tabernacle, near the intersection of Byron and First Streets. That building (known as the First Christian Chapel) burned in January 1904. The church members immediately decided to construct a completely new church building at the intersection of Whitelock Street and Riverside Drive. The first service was held in the basement of the new church on November 27, 1904 while construction continued on the rest of the building.

NATIONAL MERGERS

The 1930s through the 1950s brought national mergers of denominations that affected these two churches. In 1931 Huntington Christian became part of the Congregational Christian Church denomination. In 1934 St. Peter's Reformed Church became part of the Evangelical and Reformed Church denomination. In 1957 the Congregational Christian Churches merged with the Evangelical and Reformed Churches, creating the United Church of Christ.

The two Huntington churches were then known as St. Peter's United Church of Christ, and just two blocks away was First United Church of Christ.

MERGER

Thirty-one years later these two city churches merged on November 6, 1988 and carried the name St. Peter's First United Church of Christ. A Fellowship Hall was added to the St. Peter's property and dedicated in 1979.

AND YET ANOTHER NAME CHANGE

In 2007 our congregation became non-denominational and is now known as St. Peter's First Community Church. Today we still continue to worship together and serve God in our community.

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