union avenue christian church |
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George A. Campbell 1918 – 1938 I was born in 1869 in Ontario, Canada. I don’t believe I was directly related to Alexander Campbell — my ancestry was pure Celtic; my father and mother were born in Scotland. My family eventually moved from Ontario to Manitoba, but after my teenage years, I came to the United States because of two main reasons: (1) religion and (2) education. I came because of the standing of the Disciples, a much stronger one than in Canada, and because I could get the education necessary to become a preacher. I might add that I unconsciously came to find a wife — one from my denomination. So I went to Drake University in Des Moines; met and married my wife, May Jameson; and was excited to receive and take a call to a pastorate in Hiawatha, Kansas. But I dreamed of studying in Chicago, so we moved to further my education at the Disciples’ Divinity House at the University of Chicago. In Chicago I held two pastorates, the longer one at Austin Christian Church — who in the end found me to be too liberal! A postcard from Hannibal led me to Missouri. After seven years in Hannibal, in January 1918, a search committee came to hear me preach. As I remember, we had five additions on that Sunday, which pleased the committee, as the Union Avenue Church has always been an evangelistic church and feels that the morning service is not complete if there are no additions. At that time, Union Avenue had about 1,000 members. I remember that I had the feeling that it was a strong church which I had had no part in building up. However, when I agreed to come to pastor the church, I immediately set out to help it retire its debt, which was finally accomplished in 1927, the same year that Lindbergh flew across the Atlantic. It would have been difficult for me to have been called to a church which more suited me. I began downtown luncheons for unchurched men, and the women held similar meetings in their homes. In 1921 Oreon E. Scott, who had been on the search committee that brought me to Union Avenue, presented the church with a revolving cross to sit above the belfry as a beacon of Christian commitment. The next year the endowment fund was started (it stood at about $25,000 at the close of my pastorate), and in 1926 we decided a weekly paper would be helpful. Casper Yost, editor of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat editorial page, won the contest to name the paper — his entry was “Our Church.” In 1928, Mr. Barclay Meador, on behalf of a group of deaf Christians — the Silent Bereans — inquired as to the possibility of Union Avenue becoming the church home for this group. Mr. Meador and Mrs. O.A. Schneider, the interpreter, led their services. Sunday morning worship @ 10:45 a.m. • Christian Education for all ages @ 9:30 a.m. |
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