{"id":40241,"date":"2021-12-01T10:54:56","date_gmt":"2021-12-01T16:54:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=40241"},"modified":"2025-07-22T09:53:55","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T14:53:55","slug":"the-history-of-the-la-vista-church-of-christ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-history-of-the-la-vista-church-of-christ\/","title":{"rendered":"The History of the La Vista Church of Christ"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<p>The La Vista Church of Christ\u00a0was established in September of 1971. There were two families living in the area and they met for a time in the home of Ken and Rita Hirshey and their children. The other family was Wally and Nellie Bates and their children. Ken worked in a government position and Wally was in the military. Tim and Judi Fox joined the congregation soon after. Tim was also in the military.<\/p>\n<p>In 1972 Ken and Wally met with the school board of the Parkview Heights Elementary School in La Vista. The board allowed the congregation to meet in their gymnasium on Sunday for worship. Various locations were used for Bible studies on Wednesday nights.<\/p>\n<p>Additional families began to worship with the congregation. Property was secured at 89th and Granville and the building process began in 1975. The first service was held in the new building in December of 1975.<\/p>\n<p>The congregation grew to approximately 80 in 1994. However, due to many military families and other job-related situations, we lost 7-9 families that year. The congregation again grew to approximately 80 members in 2000, but again shrank due to families moving out of the area. Over the course of the first 40 years, over five hundred people have been members of the La Vista Church of Christ.<\/p>\n\t<h3>Preachers<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Terry Johnson<br \/>\n1974-1977<\/li>\n<li>Shelby Sanders<br \/>\n1978-1982<\/li>\n<li>Mike Divis<br \/>\n1984-1994<\/li>\n<li>Carl MacMurrary<br \/>\n1990-1993<\/li>\n<li>Jeffrey Hamilton<br \/>\n1995-present<\/li>\n<li>Alan Feaster<br \/>\n2017<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\t<h3>Elders<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Mike Kusters<br \/>\n2008<\/li>\n<li>Jeffrey Hamilton<br \/>\n2008, 2016-present<\/li>\n<li>Clint Crosier<br \/>\n2016-2017<\/li>\n<li>Raymond Warfel<br \/>\n2017-present<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\t<h3>Deacons<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Austin Hausner<br \/>\n2016-2024<\/li>\n<li>Mel Douglas<br \/>\n2016-2024<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The La Vista Church of Christ\u00a0was established in September of 1971. There were two families living in the area and they met for a time in the home of Ken and Rita Hirshey and their children. The other family was Wally and Nellie Bates and their children. Ken worked in a government position and Wally&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[726],"class_list":["post-40241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-church-history"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":42480,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-the-correct-way-of-saying-a-particular-congregation-the-la-vista-church-of-christ-or-the-church-of-christ-at-la-vista\/","url_meta":{"origin":40241,"position":0},"title":"What is the correct way of saying a particular congregation: the La Vista Church of Christ or the church of Christ at La Vista?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 5, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What is the correct way of saying a particular congregation: the La Vista Church of Christ or the church of Christ at La Vista? Some contend the latter should be used. They argue that the former emphasizes place rather than the church. They use as an illustration as to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4650,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/pre-campbell-christianity\/","url_meta":{"origin":40241,"position":1},"title":"Pre-Campbell Christianity","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 23, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ken Chumbley via\u00a0Gospel Gazette, Vol. 2, No. 8, p. 18, August 2000 The following is an excerpt from an article by Carroll Sites that has been found in a number of bulletins over the last few years: Many people identify churches of Christ as owing their roots to Alexander\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41582,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/your-site-is-a-blessing-in-more-ways-than-you-know\/","url_meta":{"origin":40241,"position":2},"title":"Your site is a blessing in more ways than you know","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 15, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: God bless you. La Vista Church of Christ is an answer to my prayers since I have not been able to find a local church where I can worship our Lord. I find the messages extremely anointed and they explain the Lord's thoughts so well. I am a mature\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24723,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-temporary-meetings-such-as-at-a-remote-military-base-really-a-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":40241,"position":3},"title":"Are temporary meetings, such as at a remote military base, really a church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 10, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a question about a certain type of assembly that I am not sure is scriptural. During the invitation at the church building tonight, the speaker used Matthew 18:15-20 to distinguish between individual, group, and church. I agreed with the points he made. After the lesson, there was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42655,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-we-be-lights-of-the-world-if-we-are-closeted-behind-our-doors\/","url_meta":{"origin":40241,"position":4},"title":"How can we be lights of the world if we are closeted behind our doors?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 29, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Bro. Hamilton, I would like to thank the church there for its great website. I am a Bible school teacher and I think it will be a big help to me when my students have questions about biblical things. I have read the introduction to the La Vista\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":92501,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-person-be-a-member-of-two-different-congregations\/","url_meta":{"origin":40241,"position":5},"title":"Can a person be a member of two different congregations?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: We have a brother who used to worship with us, but eventually he took the gospel to his village, with the help of the congregation where we both worship. Worship services started in his village, with most members being his immediate family. However, he lives in our area but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40241"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40241\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}