BIRTH

Left: Advertisements for the Tent Meetings, 1893

Below: E.L. Frazier's prayer request in the Christian Standard, July 1 1893

July and August, 1893

Central Christian Church became official on August 1, 1893 (v) when the articles of incorporation were signed and submitted, approximately 60 years after “the handshake ”

that began the Stone-Campbell movement. Shortly before, a tent meeting was organized by E.L. Frazier and E.O. Sharp on the corner of Greenwood Ave. and Station St. in Kankakee, Illinois, at the bequest of the Dwight, Schooley, and Greene families, who had attended a revival in Tuscola and desired the same experience for Kankakee (vi).

The Schooly and Dwight families had become acquainted when Mrs. Sarah Schooley and Mrs. Dwight, both Disciples, met after sending their children to the Methodist church for Sunday School. Together, others [like them] and holding religious meetings in their homes. ” vii The area had been ripe for the past ten years for a Christian church, as there “ were a number of Disciples in the city. Some had gone to the Baptists, some to the Methodists, others to the Presbyterians and Episcopalians, for want of a better home ” (viii).

During this meeting, organizer E.L. Frazier requested prayer in The Christian Standard, “We have ‘ pitched our tent, ’ and commenced preaching. We have a good sized tent, seated with chairs. We realize the magnitude of the undertaking. We have many hindrances and few helps. It will take gospel, grace and grit, with patience, perseverance and push, to succeed. Brethren, pray for us