Berea Christian Church

 Located at a busy T-junction of two dirt county roads (I mean, three vehicles drove by within two minutes of us stopping on this seemingly out-of-the-way road), the small, one-room, wooden Berea Christian Church is slowly succumbing to nature.  

There is very little information to be found concerning this church online.  It is a simple, one-room, wood frame, gable end church.  This church was a daughter church of Leonard Christian Church (as was Cherry Box Christian Church) and was one of 17 organized Christian churches in Shelby County, Missouri.  According to The General History of Shelby County, Missouri (by Bingham, William H., [from old catalog] comp; Taylor, Henry, & company, Chicago, pub. [from old catalog].  Publication date: 1911), Berea Christian Church had a splendid record for good in the community it served.  At one point it had a congregation of of about 80 members.  

I am not sure when the church closed its doors (nor when it was founded) and subsequently became abandoned, but it appears to have been active well into the later part of the 20th century.  An obituary article for a Mr. Larry Dean Thrasher states that he was united in marriage to Jo Anne Gaines on August 20, 1971 at Berea Christian Church.  The church currently stands, but barely.  It is surrounded by trees that are slowly starting to knock it over.  I fear we will soon see this small but important part of Missouri's church history being lost to the elements.  While the building is easily accessible, a peak inside makes it obvious that someone is using the vacant building as a place to store their junk.  I did not see any graveyard or cemetery associated with this church.  

The name "Berea" for a church is a very common name.  This harkens back to the Bereans in the Bible mentioned in the book of Acts.  "As soon as it was night, the brothers and sisters sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. Upon arrival, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. The people here were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, since they received the word with eagerness and examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so." Acts 17:10-11 CSB.  As the Bereans were considered noble and were praised for searching the Scriptures daily to see if what they were being taught was biblically sound, many churches and Christians today strive to "Be a Berean" and follow in their footsteps.  There was also The Berean Methodist Episcopal Church which was located in Shelby County as well.  

The Christian Church denomination might sound almost oxymoronic, as most denominations and church are Christian, but the Christian Church its own denomination.  The Christian Church denomination is also known as the Disciples of Christ.  This denomination (though members of the Christian Church/Disciples of Christ dislike the feeling of "being put in a box" that being called a denomination can entail) finds its roots in the Restoration Movement of the early 19th century.  This movement, begun by Alexander Campbell and Barton Stone, would go on to birth the Christian Church/Disciples of Christ in 1906 as well as the Churches of Christ (which are non-instrumental in musical worship) and the Independent Christian Church, as well as was instrumental in the formation of both the Latter Day Saints (Mormon's) and Jehovah's Witnesses.  For a more detailed look at the Christian Church and what they believe, head over to: https://www.gotquestions.org/Disciples-of-Christ.html

As always, if anyone has any information on Berea Christian Church or has stories from the church, please comment or reach out to me.