From its inception, the history of Kenosha FCC has been firmly based on a legacy of love that embraces the understanding of God’s desire to reach EVERY. ONE. As His ambassadors, we meet people where they are and move them closer to Jesus. Over the years, Kenosha FCC has been a “place of healing” for both members and ministers and has fostered a positive environment for people to encounter Jesus, heal from past hurts in personal relationships, and in some cases, heal from past hurts from prior church experiences.

The story of First Christian Church, Kenosha began at a meeting held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. R. W. Cordtz on April 18, 1923. They wanted to care for the Kenosha community by providing a different type of church. An Evangelist, Benjamin W. Tate was called upon to serve until the church was formally launched.

Early meetings were held in a borrowed tent on the present site of Reuther High School. The “winds of change” blew down the tent in early May of 1923, but the Lord’s providence supplied a vacant store on 13th Ave. & 60th Street where the small congregation gathered for a time.

It was not long before the congregation moved into the Danish Methodist Church building at 12th Avenue and 61st Street on May 13, 1923. This small congregation stepped out on faith to purchase this building to establish a permanent home among the people they wanted to disciple as they moved closer to Jesus.

The ensuing years brought many challenges for the church, and frequent changes in ministers were commonplace. The Great Depression, which began in the late 1920’s and lasted through the 1930’s, brought financial hardship to everyone in the community as well as the congregation. Even though many in the congregation lacked employment, faith abided! Once again, the Lord was faithful, turning the efforts of a few into a blessing such that members of the congregation were able to dig a basement under the existing building despite the calamity going on in the world around them. This sacrifice provided much-needed space for Bible School Classes and other activities “to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up” (Eph 4:12 NIV). As the Great Depression waned, the faith and purpose of First Christian Church remained.

In 1946, lots at 32nd Avenue and 75th Street were purchased in order to move the congregation in the direction that the community was growing. Soon, homes began to spring up all around the building as the people worked to help their neighbors and families move closer to Jesus.

By now, the membership of First Christian Church had grown to two hundred fifty and the need for a larger building was never more apparent, so construction began to expand the church building in May of 1957. This made room for more people to grow in their faith, relationships to God and one another.

With a heart to reach EVERY. ONE. the church desired to minister to a group of people who were not able to attend the church regularly. With a heart to meet people where they were, some of the leaders of the church began holding a worship service at Brookside Care Center, a local long-term care facility, in 1962. Meanwhile, by 1963, the church had connected with so many people in Kenosha that they needed to start offering two Sunday morning service times. And by 1965 there was a need to expand once more with an educational building.

FCC continued its community outreach in the 1990s by commissioning several families to a new church plant in Racine. This outreach ministry would be a foreshadowing of things to come. In subsequent decades FCC would see numerous ministers sent out into full-time ministries; some serving as chaplains, others as church camp ministers, and still others into the mission field to serve abroad.

In 1998 another chapter in the legacy of First Christian Church began as the congregation broke ground for a new building on Wilmot Road with the goal of making room to welcome even more people.

The uniqueness of this congregation is bound up in its heart for reaching those around them in order to bring them into a closer relationship to Jesus. Its willingness to makes modifications and course corrections are in the church’s DNA. Members of FCC have navigated through traditional church and cultural norms to encounter people where they are and bring them closer to Jesus. Whether it was challenging the established traditional church dress code, adapting from hymns to a more contemporary worship music, or even having a more modern auditorium rather than a traditional church sanctuary, the members of this congregation have always found a way to hold their love for each other in higher esteem than differences in personal preferences and opinions.

May the Lord continue to richly bless the Kenosha FCC and may it be found earnestly contending for the faith when our Lord returns!