History of The Northside Congregation
This is a brief history of the conception and reality of the Northside church of Christ in Roswell, Georgia.
In June of 1982, a group of dedicated members of the Lord's Church met to discuss the need for the establishment of a congregation in the then small town of Roswell. The first meeting was held on a Sunday afternoon in the community activities building of the Roswell Recreational Center. About sixteen people were present. Some of those attending were Kenneth West, Pete Ferguson, Mike Hornsby, W. T. Bryan, Warren Spivey, Charles Stoval, Leroy Wright and Jerry Hall.
A second planning meeting was conducted early in July. Charles Stoval was employed as minister; committees were organized to oversee spiritual and business matters for the group and to locate appropriate facilities for worship. By August the group began meeting on Sunday evenings at the Peachtree Federal Bank activities room in Roswell.
Within about two months the group had grown so much that they were forced by county fire and safety codes to begin looking for larger facilities, more suitable for conducting services on Sunday morning, evening and mid-week. An agreement was reached with the Kinder Care Day Care Center of Roswell to use its building.
The year of 1983 began with the congregation moving again, from the day care to an unused bank building on Roswell Road. Then in May of 1984, Brother Stoval resigned to a move out-of-state. Brother Cliff Jones, a Bible teacher at Greater Atlanta Christian School in Norcross agreed to work with the church through the summer months while a new full¬time minister was found.
Contact was made with the Austinville church of Christ in Decatur, Alabama and the Austinville church, as part of their mission effort, agreed to place and support Brother John Padgett with the Northside Church. Brother Padgett and his wife Frances came to the church in August of 1983. Shortly before the arrival of the Padgetts, the church purchased the property on Woodstock Road, and as the existing house was being renovated as a meeting place, the Padgetts arrived in Roswell. In November of 1984 the church appointed its first elders. They were Lamar Bramlett, Randy Simpson, David Sherrod and Bob Boyd.
The church continued to grow and it was not long before another expansion was considered. A decision was made to erect a new building in front of the existing building. Ground was broken on the new building in 1987. During construction Brother Padgett left and the search was begun for a new minister. The new building was completed in early 1988 and shortly after its completion Brother Charles Anderson joined us as the new minister. Charles and his family worked with the congregation for three years.
In October 1992 Brother Allen Fraser met with the elders and preached to the congregation. He and his family joined us permanently in January of 1993. Again the elders soon saw the need for expansion, and planning began in early 1993 on the new classrooms and fellowship hall. Construction began in the spring of 1994 and was completed in six months.
The Frasers moved to Michigan in July of 1996 and again the congregation began the search for a replacement minister. After an extensive interview process the congregation selected Brother David Markwell. David and his family began working with us in January of 1997.
Brother Markwell worked with the congregation as the minister as he studied and received his degree and certification in counseling. In August 2003 David started his career as a full time Christian counselor.
A minister search committee was formed and brother Jerrad Holloway was offered the full time minister’s position and he accepted. He and his wife, Mandy, moved to Roswell and started their work with the congregation in September 2003. During their service at Northside they had a son Duncan in 2007.
Jerrad and Mandy moved to Winchester, VA to serve as the minister at a congregation there in November 2008. Soon thereafter, their second child, Cana was born.
In April 2009, David Markwell returned to Northside with his wife Debbie and sons Brandon and Preston, where he became the minister for the congregation. He maintained his counseling practice as he ministers to the congregation.
Over the years the congregation has changed, new members joining and some leaving often to return. But the church and its people have persevered as Christ said we should, "Watch your life and doctrine closely, Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. " (I Tim 4: 16)