History of Christ United Methodist Church

The Pineview subdivision was developed in the 1950’s and early 1960’s. Families began moving in as early as 1952. The Hamilton family from Colorado did most of the building and development of the area. Forrest Hamilton was an architect and was very helpful when we were planning our church building. A local company owned by Lee Donley was helpful when we were choosing the lot and they did the construction of the church.

Lee Harden, an attorney, provided most of the legal work, he and his wife also became members of the church. These people and companies worked together so we could get approval to build the church. We purchased a parsonage on the corner of 11th and Payne Street, in which we held church activities in the basement. Church services were held at Pineview School. During the early years of the church many of the members worked for one of the three refineries.

Construction of the church was started in 1957, the first minister, Rev. Mert Cox, helped get the activities organized and started. He stayed until 1961 when Rev. William Iimes came. The church saw many changes in membership because so many people were employed by the refineries. An addition was built onto the church in the late 1960’s or early 1970’s. This provided classrooms and office space for minister and secretary. Many local groups such as Boy and Girl Scouts, Tops, Garden Club, service groups and daycare providers used the church. Many weddings, baptisms, and funerals also were held there.

A fire destroyed the church on February 23, 1997, the building was torn down and the lot at 3025 East 2nd was sold to Lavin Tile. Our members prayed to God to provide a permanent home. We believed that our God was able to meet our needs, and we have seen Jesus answer our prayers. In the Summer of 1999, after looking at all alternatives such as building or renovating a building the church members voted to buy the Faith Assembly of God church at 1868 South Poplar. Insurance proceeds covered the purchase price.

We held our first service on July 18, 1999. We have done many repairs and fixing up the building. We feel we have a nice home to hold our worship services and a good location to reach out to the community. We have lots of room to grow.

September 2002 was our church’s 50th anniversary.

Highlights

January, 1957

A congregational meeting of the Christ Methodist Church was held in the church parsonage for the purpose of electing temporary officers for the conduct of church business until the first Quarterly Conference could be held.Rev. Merton M. Cox opened the meeting by explaining the purpose and the various committees that would be needed to begin functioning. Harry Swink was appointed secretary for this meeting.Rev. Charles Nowlen, District Superintendent, and Mrs. Nowlen attended as advisors to the group on the various committees and on the Women’s Society of Christian Service. Both gave explanations at various points during the meeting to help guide the congregation.

August, 1957

Christ Methodist Church Groundbreaking Scheduled:Groundbreaking ceremonies for a new Methodist church in Casper took place Sunday at 5:30 p.m. at the site of the proposed building, the 3000 block of East Second St.To be known as the Christ Methodist Church, a chapel designed by Forrest Hamilton of Goodrich and Wilking, architects, will be erected by the L.D. Liesinger Construction Co. Completion was scheduled for December.

The Chapel was to be a two story building of concrete block masonry, in contemporary design, with a cost of about $47,000. The upper floor was planned to house the chapel itself, seating about 200 persons, along with a Sunday School room. A kitchen and a basement were also included in the building plans.

The congregation, which presently has 60 families comprising 150 persons, held charter day March 24th. Church groups had been meeting in the parsonage at Eleventh and Payne Streets.

The Board of the First Methodist Church voted Monday to make up the difference between what the Christ Methodist Church members were able to raise, and the total cost of the chapel. Rev. Merton M. Cox was pastor of the church. Robert J. Clark was chairman of the Board of Trustees for the church. C. L. Harden is secretary of the trustees. Other officers were Allan Cheesbrough, chairman of the finance commission; Forrest Hamilton, chairman of the official board; Olaf Koelling, treasurer, and Donald Harris, lay leader.

START OF A NEW CHURCH: Participating in ground-breaking ceremonies Sunday for the New Christ Methodist Church, 3000 E. Second were Forrest Hamilton, Chairman of the Official Board; Dr. C. A. Nowlen, District Superintendent, Rev. Merton Cox, Pastor; and the Rev. C. T. Hawes, pastor of the First Methodist Church. Approximately 150 people attended the ceremonies.

March 1963

CHRIST METHODIST CHURCH ANNOUNCES BUILDING PLANSChrist Methodist church, 3025 E. Second, announced plans for a new sanctuary. An organizational meeting was held by the building committee. The present building had been used for six years as a sanctuary and for the church school program. Christ church recently announced a mid-week church school program for children of all ages, departing from the usual Sunday morning period, except for the adult class which continued to meet at 10 a.m. This week, Christ church announced the initiation of an 8:30 a.m. Sunday church service in addition to the 11 a.m. service.With these three new plans, it was the hope of the church that it could keep pace with the physical growth of the area and also offer its congregation a well rounded program of spiritual development, and fellowship. Rev. William R. Iimes was pastor.

You should be aware of the fact that the new addition was not made until 1972 and it was an educational building rather than a sanctuary. In 1965 the Major oil companies reported that they were going to move their offices out of Casper and consolidate them with their regional offices in Denver, Colorado; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Kansas City, Kansas. This resulted in PANIC! Evidently, Christ Church was hit hard in 1965-66. But regained some financial strength in 1966-67 after plans for a merger had been developed.

May 16, 1967

(Taken from the Pastor’s report to the Quarterly Conference)”This has been an important and changing year for Christ Methodist. With prospects for a merger on the horizon we began to do some self-searching. ….Our week-day church school program (represents) a good job of evangelizing…. The Week-day program has immense possibilities and the plan of merger should be a fine thing for its future. ….We have a committee composed of members from both churches that are at work planning for the coming year with high enthusiasm.“A third part of the story is financial. Ironically 1966-67 has turned out to be our best year financially despite the tremendous losses of a year ago…. The merger will eliminate the impossible struggle to grow and develop an adequate church plant in a time of economic instability such as Casper has known.” ~Bill Satterfield, pastor.

June, 1967

The United Methodist Church of Casper was formed with the merger of Christ Church and First Methodist. Rev. Stan Fixter was appointed pastor of the United Methodist Church, with Carl Carlsen, Associate Pastor and Minister of Education.

January, 1969

The two churches of Casper ended their merger, and returned as individual congregations. Rev. Stan Fixter became Pastor of First United Methodist Church, and Rev. Carl Carlsen, Pastor of Christ United Methodist Church.

May, 1972

Groundbreaking services were held at Christ United Methodist Church for a new Educational Building to be constructed on the present church site. The educational building was to be attached to the North side of the present sanctuary, with construction completed by October 1st. Rev. Eugene Rowbothem, District Superintendent, presided over the Groundbreaking services with Rev. Paul Hood, Pastor.

February 18, 1973

The Celebration of Consecration service was held at Christ United Methodist Church on Sunday, February 18th. Bishop Melvin Wheatley preached the Consecration sermon. Rev. Eugene Rowbothem and Paul Hood participated in the Service of Consecration for the new education building. The construction cost for the educational building was $78,000.

January, 1977

The membership of Christ Church was 305. The church building and parsonage were valued at $300,000.

Pastors Who Have Served Our Church

• Rev. Mert Cox 1957-1961
• Rev. William Iimes 1961-1963
• Rev. William Satterfield 1963-1966
• Rev. Carl Carlsen 1966-1970
• Rev. Stan Fixter 1967-1969 (Pastor of merged United Methodist Church)
• Rev. Paul Hood 1970-1977
• Rev. Robert Morgan 1977-1981
• Rev. Steven Day 1981-1984
• Rev. Thomas L. Phillips 1984-1989
• Rev. Marge Good 1989-1991
• Rev. Louis Pratt 1991-1995
• Rev. Dan Odell 1995-1999
• Pastor Stanton Steuri 1999-1999
• Rev. Robert Morgan (retired interim)1999-2000
• Rev. Thomas Cross 2000-June 2007
• Rev. William D. “Mac” McGrew, July 2007-present