1708 Harrison Street, Melissa, TX 75454
melissachristianchurch@gmail.com
ABOUT US
The first religious meeting of our people in Melissa met in 1868 in the school building located in the northwest section of the town. However, the school later changed location and it became necessary to purchase land for a church and parsonage. J.N. Sanstrom, one of the early leaders arriving in Melissa, helped in acquiring land for the building of the new church structure in the D.E.W. Babb Survey. Lumber for this new spiritual edifice came from Jefferson in east Texas, transported by wagon.
Then disaster struck with a severe blow! And, what a blow it was!! On April 13, 1921, the entire town of Melissa experienced severe damage from a twisting, thundering tornado. All the churches in the community, within a matter of minutes, became a poke of broken lumber or rubble. For the moment it was devastating. Yet this sad sight and disaster did not dampen the enthusiasm of the congregation in attempting to rebuild a new church. The next month on May 10th, the trustees of the church, namely, J.S. Sanstrom, J.W. Douglas, W.N. Osburn and J. B. Neal sold the original property to J.L. Osburn and purchased lots four blocks away at the corner of Harrison and Central Streets, near the center of Melissa and adjacent to the Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian churches. The present lots were purchased from W.R. Wallis, B.F. McClendon, William McBee and Silas Murray as part of the William Fitzhugh survey. Anticipating a new building, the congregation selected W. N. Osburn as the contractor. J. B. Neal accepted the chairmanship of the Building Committee.
Volunteer labor assisted greatly with the construction work and materials were donated by numerous members. The approximate cost of this new white brick structure totals between $10,000 and $11,000. The members borrowed $2500 for the pews and other furnishings.On December 7, 1924, the new church was dedicated and the notes burned. The Melissa Christian Church entered into a new day of Christian ministry and witness and the work of God in the community continues to flourish and grow.
History
History
Mike McConachie has served as the bi-vocational pastor of the Melissa Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) since August of 2003. He is an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and served congregations in Missouri and Texas.
Mike is a native Texan born and raised in Dallas, Texas. He has earned degrees from the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Missouri-Columbia and Brite Divinity School. In addition to pastoring Melissa Christian Church, Mike is Professor of Political Science at Collin College’s Spring Creek Campus in Plano.
Mike is married to the former Cindy Chase who is a library cataloguer with the Richardson Independent School District. They have two adult children who live in the Plano area.
Mike enjoys sharing God’s love and word through preaching and teaching at Melissa Christian Church.
Meet The Pastor
Dr. Mike McConachie
Bill Daniel
President of the Congregation
Bill is a seasoned Human Resource Executive whose career includes assignments with Frito-Lay, Inc., Clorox, NEODATA, and Bell Packaging Corporation. He has been in his current position as President of WINGS, Inc. a full service Human Resource Consulting Company since 1997.
Bill previously served on the Melissa School Board, the Board of Directors for the International Student Foundation (a non-profit supporting orphans who had aged out of foster care), and currently serves on the Board of Directors for DaySpring Assisted Living Center in Plano, in addition to serving as the current Chairman of the Board for Melissa Christian Church. He and his wife Pat have lived in Melissa for the past 20 years. They have two sons and nine (9) grandchildren.
Bill earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Houston.
Board of Trustees
Our Identity Statement
The identity statement of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) states: “We are Disciples of Christ, a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world. As part of the one body of Christ we welcome all to the Lord’s Table as God has welcomed us.”
We practice unity and inclusion at the Lord’s Table
All are welcome to the Lord’s Table for the sake of mission and for the sake of the world as the one family of God. Most congregations do this by celebrating communion every Sunday. That’s why we use a chalice as our logo.
We practice believer baptism
A person makes the choice to follow God’s call rather than the choice being made for them as an infant. Baptism is the basis of membership in the Church and also a mark that every person is called to serve God – the idea of the “priesthood of all believers.”
We are a movement for Christian Unity
We honor our heritage as a movement for Christian unity by cooperating and partnering with other faith communities to work for bringing about wholeness – healing and justice – in the world. This is what it means to be “ecumenical.” One example is our cooperative work with the United Church of Christ in Global Ministries for the past 25 years and our newer effort to share staff in the area of family ministries.
We also honor the heritage of Christian unity by staying together in covenant as a witness to the world that even when we disagree we can still make room, welcoming all to the table as Christ has welcomed us. Our spiritual ancestors were fond of saying, “unity, not uniformity.”
We study scripture for ourselves
We are called to study and read scripture for ourselves. Rather than having tests of faith and creedal statements, we critically and thoughtfully study scripture, taking into account the history and background – the context – in which it was written.
We answer God’s call for justice
We move to answer God’s call for justice particularly in the areas of care for the earth, the challenges for women and children, poverty and hunger and immigration. We seek to do this work in cooperation with other people of faith. Some say we “get dirty for Jesus” as a way of conveying the hands-on mission orientation of many of our faith communities.
Disciples of Christ Ministry
Defining Our Identity: A Video Overview
Defining Our Identity: A Video Overview
Movement
Movement
Wholeness
Wholeness
Table
Table
Welcome
Welcome