Netherwood Park church of Christ
Information and/or Graphic Here
OUR HISTORY . . . 1952 - 2000
The church of Christ in Albuquerque began in the home of Ruben and May Bell Talley on Forrester Avenue Northwest. The first church building was erected in 1922 on Forrester Avenue. The Fifth and Marble church evolved from this group and began meeting in 1935. This church helped establish several congregations, one of which was Netherwood Park. They financed the construction of the first building and some of the Fifth and Marble Christians were charter members at Netherwood Park.
Mr. Oscar Huddleston, a charter member of Fifth and Marble, and his construction company erected the first building at Netherwood which consisted of an auditorium and three or four classrooms. The first services were held in this building on August 3, 1952. There were 59 members in the first meeting. Later a classroom section, the preacher’s office and a fellowship hall were added.
The first evangelist was Robert A. Hawkins, who began work with the congregation in August 1952 and served until April 1954. The first elders and deacons were appointed October 30, 1952. The elders were Wayne W. Stell, Sr. and Erroll T. Gay. The deacons were Larry Hansen, Dale Simpson, Harvey Stultz and Nathan Moore. Netherwood Park was incorporated on May 18, 1953.
A new auditorium was constructed in 1956 with almost all the work being done voluntarily by the Netherwood members. The first service was held in the new auditorium Sunday, March 17, 1957. As membership increased it became necessary to add more classrooms. Construction began on a two-story classroom wing, supply room, kitchen, fellowship hall, and offices for the preacher in October 1975. A lectureship was held in April 1976 to celebrate the completion of the new facilities.
The first building and breezeway were demolished and a new foyer added to the front of the auditorium in 1980. The congregation was still growing and more classrooms were needed. In 1987 the auditorium was enlarged to accommodate about 600 people and another two-story classroom section was added as well as a commons area to be used for small gatherings such as showers and receptions. The building dedication was held Sunday, October 18, 1987, at 3:00 p.m.
The congregation is involved in mission work in Swaziland and Thailand. There is a very active missions committee that is always looking into ways to expand our mission work. We have a group of members who preach for small congregations as the need arises.
Netherwood has a wonderful Bible school curriculum and a dedicated staff of teachers. We have multiple ministries being overseen by a good group of deacons. We have a goal to involve all of our members in some area of ministry.
The church is currently being served by 6 elders and 25 deacons. George Carman is the pulpit minister. Some of the men who have served the church as ministers include Ivan Stewart, Richard N. (Dick) Ady, Darrell Rickard, Dwayne Hollis and Wayne Sharp.
