Hillcrest Church of Christ History

The Hillcrest congregation met at the Graham Street Church of Christ until the Hillcrest building was constructed in 1959. The Graham Street building is now the home of the Iglesia de Cristo. Graham Street Church of Christ members met on May 29, 1957, to appoint a committee to plan a new congregation. Appointed as trustees to handle legal matters were R. S. Powell, Forbes McInroe, Harold Lobley, Bill Hilton and Ray McGlothlin.

The next task was raising the $154,000 through bond sales for the construction of a building on property previously selected in the Hillcrest addition of Abilene. Forbes McInroe, an elder of the Graham Street congregation, served as contractor for the building.

As the building progressed, those who had indicated a desire to worship with the new congregation held a business meeting to chart initial work and objectives for the membership. At the first meeting on March 15, 1959, Overton Faubus and R. S. Powell were selected as elders. Carl Spain and Overton Faubus were selected as ministers. Bill Hilton was asked to serve as director of the Bible school and Ray McGlothlin as song director.

The church met for the first time on April, 12, 1959, with 258 present for Bible classes that morning.