History

Who We Are
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HISTORY OF CHRIST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Jesus Christ is the head of His Church. He is one who builds His church. He does use individuals in the process. Below is a brief historical narrative of how God brought about the congregation of believers of Christ Presbyterian Church in Greenville, North Carolina.

As early as 1978 attempts were made to plant a PCA church in Greenville, North Carolina. However, it was not until 1986 when a ruling elder (Tom Lamprecht) at Chapelgate Presbyterian Church
(PCA) in Baltimore began making plans to move his family to Greenville, that the
possibility was more thoroughly investigated. In March of 1986, while still in Baltimore, Tom met with Dave, an associate pastor at Chapelgate Presbyterian Church, to find out if the PCA had a church in Greenville. The closest PCA church was about twenty miles away in the community of Chocowinity. There was a discussion of the possibility of Dave coming to Greenville and planting a PCA church. However, Paul Taylor at the PCA Mission to North America office indicated that the chances of the PCA planting a church in a town the size of Greenville, North Carolina were very unlikely. Even though Greenville was not a high priority for a new church plant for the PCA, Tom, Warren Thuston (a pastor in the Eastern North Carolina Presbytery), and Lane Adams (the senior Pastor at Chapelgate) continued to pray for a PCA church in Greenville. Open communications with the PCA and Paul Taylor were maintained.

In March of 1987 several people distributed brochures concerning the possibility of starting a Greenville PCA church at Greenville's Chamber of Commerce Expo. An advertisement in the newspaper was run inviting any interested persons to a discussion meeting; as only three poeple showed up, enthuiasm for the project faded. However, in March of 1988, Paul Taylor was contacted again with the news that two of the leading evangelical pastors in town were leaving their pulpits and that it appeared this could be an opportunity for a PCA church to fill the potential void. At that point Paul made Greenville a priority for church planting. Several pastor candidates were considered for the church plant and national fundraising for this
project was begun. Meanwhile, Warren Thuston agreed to help coordinate and raise funds for this project in the Eastern Carolina Presbytery.

In April of 1988 Mike Rasmussen and his wife Renatta met with about thirty people who were interested in seeing a PCA church get started. A few days later it was agreed that Mike would be placed as the church planter in Greenville. Meanwhile, this core group began to meet for Bible Study on Sunday evenings. The Rasmussens moved to Greenville in July.

A telemarketing campaign was arranged by Mike to call 10,000 homes to invite families to the church's first service, which would take place November 4, 1988, in the banquet room of the
Comfort Inn. At the first worship service of Christ Presbyterian Church there were 134 in attendance. CPC celebrated becoming a particular church with a banquet featuring speaker Dominic Aquila from Kendall Presbyterian Church of Miami, Florida, in April of 1990.

It was June 27, 1991, when Mike Rasmussen announced his resignation as our pastor in order to accept a position at Perimeter Church in Atlanta. His resignation was accepted July 7 at a congregational meeting.

Almost simultaneous with the later stages in the search for a new pastor, CPC's Facility Committee began to make headway in the search for a new facility - the Eastern Carolina Vocational Center building. After much prayer, calculated cost estimates for needed structural changes, and city
council meetings, the way was finally made possible for us to worship together in one service,
in our own rented facility beginning May 3, 1992.

A Pulpit Nominating Committee was elected at a congregational meeting in July and charged with the task of finding ministerial candidates to present to the congregation for election. Applications were received and reviewed by the Committee, with the search being narrowed in November.
Carl D. Brannan, Jr. emerged as the top choice. He and his wife, Beth, were interviewed in January and recommended to the congregation by the Pulpit Nominating Committee. At a congregational meeting on January 26, 1992, Carl was elected and a call was issued. He began his service to
CPC on March 9, 1992 and served through February 28, 2003. Carl and his family were called to serve in Ocala, Florida.

In the summer of 1993, the Land Committee, after a long search and much prayer, presented to the Session and Church a petition to buy ten acres of land in the southern residential area of Greenville. This was approved and purchased. A Building and Finance Committee was been established and moved forward with plans for a future facility.

In July 1994, the Session hired the first Youth Pastor, Mark Steimer. He and his wife Julie have four children: Julianna, Jacob, Elizabeth, and Lydia.

On December 11, 1994, the congregation of CPC voted to proceed with the construction of a building on our land-site in Winterville on Old Tar Road. Ground was broken in the summer of 1995 and on May 12, 1996, the congregation of CPC held its first worship service in its new building with an emphasis on bringing glory to God with an attitude of thanksgiving to God.

A building feasibility committee undertook seeking God's will for a new addition and phases
one and two of a master plan were completed in March 2003.

Carl Brannan initially announced his resignation in the fall of 2002. In October of that year the congregation elected a pulpit nominating committee. After much prayer, the congregation voted
to call a new senior pastor to Christ Presbyterian Church. Nearly 17 years after the first discussion concerning Dave planting a new church in Greenville, the congregation of Christ Presbyterian
Church unanimously voted to call Dave as their new senior pastor. Dave, his wife, Sue, and
their four children, Mark, Joel, Emily, and Rachel finally made it to Greenville in the spring of 2003.

In April 2006, we hired a new Youth Pastor, Keith Ledford. He is married to Kathyrn and they have three children; Madelyn, Andrew, and Isaiah.

God is good and gracious and His tender mercies are fresh with the dawn of each new day.