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Photo courtesy of Dr.
Travis Cavens
Mr. Long was not forgetting what he
considered to be his Christian duty regarding an organized church in his new
city. But it was not until the summer of 1923 that he could respond favorably
to a number of letters he had been getting saying that an interdenominational
community church would be best for a new city that could not afford, at the
outset, to support a number of small denominational churches.
The Community Church was formally
organized on October 21, 1923, and held its first services in the temporary
Community House. Nine months later, with the auditorium in the new Community
House available, Sunday services were being attended by nearly a thousand
people.
It was undecided for a while whether the
Community Church should construct its own building or wait and dissolve as soon
as the various other denominations could get along on their own. Mr. Long felt
that “such a building will contribute so greatly to the spiritual requirements
of the whole community. I have concluded to give to the Longview Community
Church such land as will be needed.” He also donated the first $25,000 towards
the $89,500 needed to build the church.
The building committee envisioned an
elaborate group of buildings, providing facilities for social and religious
services seven days a week, built in an oval island formed by dividing
Washington Way. This was too grandiose even for Mr. Long, and he said the
church would have to settle for the corner on Washington Way and Kessler
Boulevard.
Mr. Long also provided a set of chimes for
the towers. There were 22 bells, the largest, the key of E, weighing 2,000
pounds, and the smallest, F sharp, weighing 475 pounds.
From “R.A. Long’s Planned City,”
John M. McClelland, Jr., 1998 and Dr. Travis Cavens |