Fairview’s History
A suitcase on a Coca Cola stand was the pulpit, an old breakfast table covered with a linen cloth was the communion table, five nail kegs used for flower stands and 24 wooden, slatted kitchen chairs served as pews for the small congregation on that first Sunday.
Property was donated to begin a permanent sanctuary on the corner of Carolina and Butler Avenues. There were two stipulations – that the name be Fairview Presbyterian Church and that a building be constructed within 5 years. Within three months this dedicated few had adopted plans for the new church, which would cost $30,000. The church has since been through several building projects, scores of officers, teachers, leaders, and members. The history of Fairview is the history of people.
Fairview’s original church building.
The original sanctuary became the fellowship hall. The church moved into the basement prior to the completion of the sanctuary. Sensing the need for more Sunday school space and a larger sanctuary, the church built the present sanctuary and connected it to the old building in 1961. In 1970, the church built another educational building and a new chapel. This also houses our Fairview Early Childhood Center (FECC). In the late 80’s additional property was purchased and parking space was enlarged. In 1988, a large crowd watched the removal of the old steeple. Many members had the opportunity to write their names on the new steeple and watch as the crane lifted it atop the church. A beautiful sight reaching towards heaven!
Many exciting events occurred in the 1990s at Fairview. Among these were the replacement of the church steeple, expansion of the FECC program to include kindergarten, full day childcare, and after school care, installation of the Moller pipe organ, establishment of the Campbell Youth House, and the addition of the beautiful stained glass windows in the sanctuary.
In 2002 a task force was formed to determine the future focus of Fairview Presbyterian Church. While the current buildings were built to provide for the ongoing needs of the ministries of the church, the task force reported three reasons to begin a building campaign expressed by the acronym PAR: Purpose, Accessibility, and Renewal. The church began the Capital Campaign in 2004. In May 2005 the congregation was presented reports from the Building Committee Report outlining the Phase I plan and the Financial Sub-committee outlined the plan to borrow up to $3 million dollars to complete the project. There was unanimous approval from the congregation for the funding and commencement of the Phase I building project.
We praise God for the many blessings upon Fairview, and we seek to do His will, and serve Him in our church, our community and through our missions around the world. Fairview is on a new spiritual journey. We may not know all of the Lord’s plans for us, but we must have confidence that God wants to use us.
