The events in this history were preceded by years of prayer by many who were burdened about the need for a church that would serve unique needs as those praying persons perceived them. In response to those heart cries, the Lord’s Spirit worked in individuals and small groups, such as adults and youth involved in Bible clubs and Bible studies conducted by Columbia Bible College students and faculty, in persons involved in the ministry of Bethel Bible Camp, and in a community church in a city housing complex. Without those years of preparation, the subsequent blessing of the church’s beginning would be hard to understand.

In the spring of 1970, under the leading of the Lord, Robert Williams asked to have a meeting with Mr. & Mrs. Andrew Freeman and Mr. & Mrs. Jake Hardison in order to share with them the idea of forming a new church in the Columbia area. At that meeting, a plan was presented for a church based on biblical principles applicable to the needs of the time, namely:

1. An open fellowship in which any person, regardless of race, ethnicity or social class could be mutually subject to one another and participate in an evangelical, evangelistic and edifying body life;
   
2. A plurality of leadership where there would be no single pastor and a group of elders would lead the people.
   
3. An emphasis on everyone sharing in mutual edification in contrast to one pastor providing most of the teaching and leadership, and
   
4. A church supported by the people without money-raising activities which were characteristic of some churches, through free will giving without receiving public offerings.

There was an agreement to pray over the matter and the proposal was shared with several other families. Several months later the Hardisons began to host a weekly Bible study in their home with people who shared in this concern. These meetings were followed by sharing in the Lord’s Supper. Sometimes meeting at Bethel Bible Camp, regular attendees increased. Interest in forming a new church grew. Meetings were characterized by spiritual vitality.

After meeting for more than a year, it was the general conviction that the time had come to begin the new church. The men met and made that decision and presented the opportunity to share in the venture of faith; most consented, but some preferred to remain in their regular churches. The Spirit of the Lord was moving on hearts. A particular blessing was that in that beginning group were several complete families.

In August of 1971 a meeting was held at Bethel Bible Camp to determine the structure of the new church. Those men present were: Andrew Freeman, Jake Hardison, James Moore, Garland Seiben, Doug Shales, Robert Williams and Ted Wright. These men became the first elders. Andrew Freeman suggested the name “Columbia Christian Fellowship.” The principles suggested in the beginning were adopted as policy. In subsequent months these elders formulated the church’s statement of faith and constitution point-by-point.

Columbia Christian Fellowship began its official existence on Sunday, October 10, 1971 in a service held at Bethlehem Community Center. Robert Williams preached the opening message, using as his text Revelation 12:11, “They overcame…by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.” There was a serious attempt to institute a full church program. Sunday evening services were well attended and centered around members sharing what the Lord had taught them concerning various topics suggested by a leader. This mutual edification became a hallmark of the new fellowship.

A call for attendees to become full, charter members was issued in 1972, Beginning in June of 1973, the church met in the mornings in the community room of Oak Reid Apartments and in the evening in the social hall of Saxon Homes. A search for the Lord to provide a permanent home was launched. The Lord led very specifically and gave Columbia Christian Fellowship a completely furnished church and educational building for a very reasonable cost. The first service in the buildings now occupied on the corner of Ervin Street and Schoolhouse Road was on the second Sunday of November 1975.

Some elders have relinquished their posts for various reasons over time and the church leadership has been enhanced with the addition of Robert Kallgren, William Waller, Johnny Waller Sr., Charles Sulita, Richard Greenfield, Daniel Sulton and Marcus Wilson as elders. Mrs. Carrie Freeman, Jerome Bryson, Todd Collins, Dwight Moffit, and Tennyson Zander have been named deacons. Melvin Harrison has been appointed Trustee. In 1989 the long-standing tradition of group elder leadership was amended with the calling of Richard R. Fleming, Jr. as the first full-time pastor, a position he holds as of the writing of this history.

Columbia Christian Fellowship adopted a policy of tithing total church income to provide funds for partial support of missionaries. We have been blessed with a wide association with dedicated and persevering workers in the harvest field. In 1999 the first group of our members to go on a short-term missions trip went to hurricane-damaged Honduras. Other groups at other times have engaged in overseas work. Our ministries have been graced by the contact we have had with Columbia International University students and faculty, many of whom have gone beyond attending to being partners with us while they are in the Columbia area.

Through these thirty plus years we have engaged in a wide variety of traditional and unusual ministries. Vacation Bible schools, missions conferences, men’s and women’s groups and retreats, youth ministries, neighborhood outreach and practical help, seasonal programs of celebration and outreach, support of Bethel Christian Camp, Bible studies, and a host of thematic services and evangelistic and discipleship efforts. Baptismal services have marked church growth.

Who can chronicle or number the wonderful individuals and families who have passed through our doors, many of whom are now far away? Our memories are too dim and our record keeping too minimal to produce a list of the persons, births, deaths, weddings, the happy and sad occasions that make up the cohesive church life that we cherish. Truly, this brief record of our beginnings gives all the glory to God.