1917

"Chatham Chapel" is a Presbyterian mission under Pastor A. K. Harsha.
Address: 6233 Chatham Avenue, Wellston, MO.
Brother Seth Means attended Brooks Bible Missionary Institute.

Early 1920s

Sunday School begins meeting at 9 a.m.

1924

First ladies Bible class.

Late 1920s

Mary Hawkins donates $1,250 toward building.

1928

Pastor Means starts camp program. Camp was held at Leasburg, MO near Onondaga Cave on the Meramec River.

December 28, 1928

Became incorporated as "Chatham Gospel Church."

February 1929

Borrowed $4,000 to purchase the building at 6233 Chatham Avenue. Mary Hawkins' donation also went toward the purchase.

February 11, 1929

$37.15 in general fund with deficit of $388.93.

November 1932

Hosted the IFCA.

1933

Average Sunday school attendance: 195.

April 1933

Visit by Dr. DeHaan, President of the IFCA.

May 15, 1933

Chatham girls organized a club called "The Ramblers."

1934

Church budget: $2,482.
Average Sunday school attendance: 211.

1930s

Brother Means organized the first sports for men at Chatham - baseball. The league included six to eight churches.

Mid-1930s

Brother Means organized the Junior IFCA, a conference of local church youth groups which met once a month.

April 19, 1933

Name changed to "Chatham Independent Church."

1934

Building committee formed to beautify the church building.

1935

Name changed to "Chatham Gospel Church."

December 4, 1935

Church building at 6233 Chatham Avenue destroyed by fire. The cause was believed to have been an overheated stove.

1936

Services held at Wellston High School. Midweek services held at Hotiamont Bible Hall.

March 1936

Plans presented for a new building with Spanish designed interior.

April 13, 1936

Chatham votes to join the IFCA.

May 1936

Loan for $3,000 borrowed for construction of a new building. (Mr. Ulna Smith came to know the Lord and directed the construction of the new building.)

December 7, 1936

Chatham officially becomes a member of the IFCA.

1936

Name "Chatham Bible Church" begins appearing in Church minutes of the official board.

1937-1942

Chatham had a men's basketball team.

March 1938

By-laws governing the church were presented and a constitution was accepted by the congregation. We believe this is the 1938 Chatham Bible Church Constitution, although it is undated: (PDF)

April 1938

Brother Means forgives $378.28 owed him.

1938

Boy Scout Troop #170 organized.
Average Sunday school attendance: 160.

1940

Church repaid Brother Means for forgiven debt.

1941

Purchased bus to assist in Sunday School program and other church functions.

1941, 1942

Men's softball team won their league championship.

1944

Average Sunday school attendance: 185.

Spring 1945

Pastor Means purchased Arcadia Bible Camp in Ironton, MO. It was used for camps, conventions, conferences, etc. (He later sold it to Wil Brunk who used to run Young Life in St. Louis.)

1945

Honor roll installed in the church to honor those who had served in the armed services.

1946

"Fishers of Men" club organized among the youth for the purpose of distributing tracts.

June 1946

Hosted convention of the Rural Bible Crusade.

1947

Sold the bus and purchased a newer one from Normandy High School.

1949

Ladies group called "The Gleaners" was organized to serve the needs of the church and its missionaries.

1951

Pastor Means began to consider his resignation. The board agreed to call a younger man to assist him.

1952-1953

Pastor Robert A. Miller served as associate pastor until he went to the mission field in Cuba in June of 1953.

1952-1955

St. Louis Christian Day School utilized Chatham's building.

June 9, 1953

Pastor Walter William Shuka assumed the duties of Pastor Robert Miller. Pastor Shuka was a graduate with high honors from Midwest Bible and Missionary Institute.

June 1954

Pastor Means retires. Pastor Shuka becomes senior pastor.

December 1954

Building committee appointed to establish plans for adding an educational wing.

September 1956

Construction of new education wing began by the Watkins and Fessler Construction Company.

January 20, 1957

New education wing of Chatham Bible Church was dedicated.

November 19, 1957

Name officially changed from "Chatham Gospel Church" to "Chatham Bible Church."

1959

Seven thousand tracts about Chatham Bible Church and its purpose were produced and distributed.

1960

Pastor Means passed away.

1961

Surveys and Bible studies were initiated in the Bridgeton area in preparation for establishing a church there.

April 1961

Chatham began seeking property to begin a new church, Bridgeton Bible Church, to extend our ministry.

July 25, 1961

Purchased property at 11510 Old St. Charles Rock Road for Bridgeton Bible Church.

Summer 1963

Began construction on building for Bridgeton Bible Church.

October 17, 1963

The constitution of Chatham was amended to include a dissolution clause to assure that if the Chatham Bible Church Corporation was ever dissolved, the assets would not go to any member, director or officer of the corporation but to a religious or charitable organization.

March 8, 1964

Dedication service was conducted at Bridgeton Bible Church.

1964-1965

Throughout these years, Pastor Shuka preached both at Chatham in Wellston as well as at Bridgeton Bible Church.

October 1964

Decision made by the Chatham congregation to place their building up for sale and to relocate the church to a new area.

May 1965

Obtained full deed release from the Mary Hawkins stipulation to clear the property for sale.

July 4, 1965

Pastor Shuka resigned to pastor Calvary Baptist Church in Rhinelander, Wisconsin.

July 25, 1965

Pastor Walter Hoard was called as pastor of Chatham. Pastor Hoard was a graduate of Midwest Bible and Missionary Institute and was ordained in 1954. He had also been director of the Mid-States Bible Church Extension.

November 1965

Chatham purchased a small bus to use in Sunday School, camp and youth work.

Late 1965

Chatham selected a 4-acre apple orchard on Howdershell Road which would become the new location for the church.

1966

Mr. Sam Hoffeditz became the full-time pastor of Bridgeton Bible Church.

May 16, 1966

Church building at 6233 Chatham was sold to New Emmanuel Baptist Church for $35,000. At the time of the sale, Chatham owed $14,464.38 on the building. After the sale of the building and associated expenses, Chatham cleared $15,980.90.

June 12, 1966

Engaged architectural firm Etz and Associates for design of the new structure on Howdershell.

June 19, 1966

Homecoming service held in the building which had been sold. The speakers were Walter Shuka and William McCarrell.

June 30, 1966

Officially left the building at 6233 Chatham.

June 1966

Assessment of Chatham's history, "Certainly the Lord has richly blessed the work here through the past 49 years, and supplied many fine pastors to guide the flock More than this, He has raised up many dedicated men, women, boys and girls, who have taken a stand for Him, and who have supported the work with their prayers, labors, talents and gifts. We have seen the fruit of our labors in Christ in souls saved, lives dedicated and the joy of knowing we are fulfilling His will through our Missionary Endeavors and Church extension work. 'Praise Him, Praise Him,' He has now opened a new door for the Chatham Bible Church in Hazelwood and we look forward first to His coming again, but if He tarries, we look forward to a blessed work ahead, as rich and rewarding as the one we have enjoyed here."

July 1, 1966

Purchased the 4-acre plot of land on Howdershell for $24,000.

July 3, 1966

Chatham Bible Church held its first morning worship service at Elm Grove elementary school where it would be held during the construction of the new building. Evening services began at the Village Square Community Hall.

August 14, 1966

Board approved final plans for new church building provided by Etz and Associates.

August 31, 1966

Congregation approved building plans. Also, by this date, the trees and ground had been cleared for the building structure.

September 11, 1966

Groundbreaking ceremony was held at property on Howdershell.

October 2, 1966

Contractor Richard Will began construction.

October 11-27, 1966

Land was excavated. The total cost of excavation was $2,325.70. Of that amount, $1,156.25 was given by a man named Mr. Boston.

October 23, 1966

St. John's Community Bank approved a loan for $60,000.

November 6, 1966

By this date, gifts and loans from individuals at Chatham had been gathered amounting to $9,000.

November 18, 1966

Loan closed with St. John's Community Bank.

June 4, 1967

The first service was held in the new building on Howdershell Road.

June 11, 1967

Cornerstone of the new building was laid.

August 27, 1967

The new building was dedicated at a service at which Dr. Glenn Campbell was the main speaker.

1967-68

Awana program began. During the first year, clubs were held on Tuesdays and Thursdays of each week. Average attendance each week for the combined clubs was 64 students. Eighteen staff members led these students. In April of 1969, the two clubs were merged to consolidate the need for workers.

1974

Activity center added.

November 1980

Pastor Hoard announced that he would be leaving Chatham Bible Church to accept a call to another Bible church in Michigan City, Indiana.

December 7, 1980

Pastor Hoard gives farewell message.

December 14, 1980

Congregational meeting held to appoint Pastor Lee Carter as interim pastor.

September 1981

Pastor Doug Russell called as pastor.

1985

Added classrooms above the kitchen area in the activity center.

January 1987

Dave Beverage called as youth pastor.

October 1989

Building of classrooms on the south side of the activity center began.

Early 1989

Dave Beverage resigned as youth pastor (2+ years)

May 1990

We were required to move out of the sanctuary because of a structural problem. Services began to meet in the activity center.

June 1990

Dave Greiner called as associate pastor.

1995

Project to recover use of the sanctuary building began. In order to cost-effectively restore the building's structural integrity, we chose to convert the building into educational space allowing reinforcement to be added inside the new interior walls. The restored building became known as the learning center.

August 1995

After 14 years of service, Pastor Doug Russell left Chatham Bible Church to serve at Grace Bible Church in Dayton, Tennessee.

August 27, 1995

Dave Greiner became our senior pastor.

September 1997

Alan Fuller called as youth pastor. Pastor Al's wife Christy grew up at Chatham.

September 1997

A one-acre portion of Chatham's property was sold to Cornerstone Self-Storage for $95,400. This money was earmarked for the eventual building of a worship center.

September 1998

Construction began to join the learning center with the activity center.

November 1998

After many challenges and set-backs including a steel-workers' strike, mistakes by sub-contractors and communication issues, construction for joining the activity center and learning center was completed.

February 1999

Building committee formed to begin planning for a new worship center.

May-June 1999

Approximately $160,000 raised toward a new worship center. Together with the $95,000 from the land sale, this gave us about $255,000 toward a worship center. The Lord truly blessed!

July 8, 2000

Chatham held a ground-breaking ceremony for its worship center.

August 2000

City of Hazelwood granted a building permit and construction began.

November 2000

Steel structure for the new worship center was erected.

June 17, 2001

First service was held in the worship center. We dedicated the building and ourselves to our God.

June 25-29, 2001

Chatham's VBS program was titled "Kid's Quest" and began meeting in Aubuchon Park in Hazelwood as an outreach to the community.

Sept. 29-30, 2001

Chatham's homecoming celebration for the new worship center.

January 20, 2002

Chatham worked in cooperation with North County Pastors for Life to begin holding annual community-wide Sanctity of Life services.

2003

Discussions began regarding a church plant in the growing Wentzville, MO region.

August 28, 2003

Dissolved after 39 years of serving the Lord, the Bridgeton Bible Church building was sold to First Baptist Church of St. Louis. Proceeds from the sale of the building continued to be distributed to Bridgeton's supported missionaries.

November 1, 2003

A small group, the beginnings of a church plant, began meeting in Wentzville twice a week on Saturdays, first in a home, then a foundry.

April 11, 2004

The Wentzville group began meeting at their local YMCA, adopting the name Joy Bible Fellowship.

January 2005

A small group began meeting to discuss strategies for reaching international students at the University of Missouri - St. Louis (UMSL).

February 9, 2005

Joy Bible Fellowship adopted their constitution.

May 29-June 8, 2005

Chatham held a revival crusade led by Life Action Revival Ministries.

2005

During this year, major renovations to Chatham's gym and parking lot were completed, including drainage improvements and a redesigned driveway entry.

Fall 2005

UMSL International Outreach group ministry introduced on campus.

October 9, 2005

A special service was held at the St. Charles Convention Center as Chatham joins with six other like-minded churches to form the Grace Network, a group dedicated to pooling resources to support missions.

March 26, 2006

Joy Bible Fellowship dedicated their new building at 1404 W. Meyer Rd. in Wentzville, MO.