Deep River church celebrates 100th anniversary

DEEP RIVER — Community Church in Deep River will celebrate its 100th anniversary Sunday, June 30 with food, stories and song before its regular worship service.

Former pastor Jack Olson is expected to return as the guest speaker.

The church has celebrated its anniversary every five years since its 75th, said Carol Horras, head of the centennial committee.

Olson was pastor of the church during its 75th anniversary. He and his daughter are coming from Wyoming for the 100th, Horras said.

Horras has been attending the church since her husband, who served in Vietnam, got out of the Army in 1968.

Postcards from 1967 note that about 120 people attended at that time. There are fewer people now, said Horras, but the church continues to meet every week.

The church is without a permanent pastor, but retired pastors have been filling in.

It’s hard to find a pastor and wife who want to settle in such a rural area, said Horras. The church is between Deep River and Millersburg. The nearest grocery store is miles away, she said.

Many homesteads that used to exist in the area are gone now, and fields have been planted where they used to stand.

However, a lot of people show up for the anniversary celebrations, said Horras. They return to reminisce.

The history

Community Church is located at 1417 F52 Trail, a road formerly known as the Black Diamond Trail, said Horras. The church was established in 1924 with the combining of two church buildings.

The United Brethren Church that had been on the site for 50 years had discontinued services. Hope Chapel, two miles south, had not held a service in four years.

Hope Chapel was purchased for $100 and was transported to the Brethren Church site, but bad weather in the fall of 1923 halted progress until the spring of 1924. The buildings were linked together later that year.

A group of men, led by Francis Grimm and Alfred Wyant, were instrumental in organizing Community Church. There are still members of both families attending and serving in various roles, said Horras.

Missionaries

Through the years, the church has supported many missionaries. The first was Estella Grooters Brown, who served as a nurse and teacher as a missionary in Nigeria.

Frank Drown and his wife, Marie, labored nearly 38 years in Ecuador among a former headhunting tribe, formerly called the Jivara and now known as the Shaur.

In the 1960s, several from the church helped Drown remove a hydroelectric plant from the Maquoketa River in northeast Iowa for the purpose of establishing the plant in the Macuma River near his mission station. He was able to broadcast gospel programs from the Macuma radio station which he operated.

The story is recounted in the Drowns’ book, “Mission to the Headhunters.”

Jerry Cox, a member of the church and an English Valleys graduate, served with new Tribes Missions with his wife Renee and three children for 27 years.

Community Church now supports East Iowa Bible Camp, Willie and Kathy Hunter, David and Connie Johnson and James and Rosangela Goossen.

Several people from the church also support other missionaries with ties to the area.

Outreach

The church continues to pack shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan’s Purse, of which Franklin Graham is president. Boxes are packed with personal care items, school supplies, toys and clothing items and are distributed across the world.

Women from Community Church have sewn many dresses for Operation Christmas Child since 2008, the first year the church packed boxes, said Horras.

The women’s mission circle was active for many years, holding monthly meetings with Bible lessons. The groups held workdays when they made quilts or sewed clothes for missionary families.

Many quilts were donated to area families following house fires. Others were given to pastor’s families and to missionaries.

The church and the parsonage, which was built in 1947 by volunteers, have been added to and remodeled many times, said Horras. The church built a new garage in 2000.

The church never borrowed money for any of the projects, said Horras. The men and women of the church were always willing and able to help with projects, whether with physical labor or with donations to pay for improvements.

The celebration

Through 100 years, said Horras, Community Church’s mission has remained the same — “Growing the family of God for the glory of God; growing closer through fellowship.”

The 100th anniversary celebration will begin with a light breakfast at 8 a.m.

At 9 a.m. a couple of men will share their memories, and family groups will present special music, Horras said.

A group photo will be taken at 10 a.m. The worship service begins at 10:30 a.m. and a luncheon follows at noon.