Affton Christian Church
Our History
ACC is more than a building. We are a hospitable, growing congregation of over 300 worshiping partners, family and friends who have been serving the South St. Louis County area for over 60 years.
In the early 1950's, the area of Affton was small but growing rapidly as people moved to the suburbs as new subdivisions that were being built. It was decided that with all the people establishing homes in the region that a mission church was needed. Recruitment started with churches in the south area of St. Louis each sending a few members to help establish a new suburban church. On Sunday, October 7, 1951, the first worship service was held by area members of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the Affton Community Hall. The new congregation sponsored by the St. Louis Disciples Council, was led by Dr. W. Elbert Starn, council executive and organizing minister of ACC.
That Sunday twenty-five persons responded to become members of the new congregation. The charter roll was then kept open for one year and resulted in a charter membership of 81 persons. Their faith, dedication, and commitment to serving the whole people of God have built a lasting legacy that exists to this day.
After a little over a year, a sanctuary was built. This first unit of the building was dedicated in 1953. The church grew rapidly as more and more people moved to the suburbs and a need for more class room and conference space, and an elevator was needed, thus a new section was built. To truly be "open to all" as our new mission statement expressed, a need for more was realized. So in 1958, the addition of a nursery and education wing was completed. After another thirteen years of growth, in 1971, there was one more renovation made and that was to better utilize our present building. This final addition, making the building more accessible to those physically impaired, was completed in 1986 and included the addition of administrative offices and remodeled the sanctuary. We opened up the pews so we were more inviting and renovated rooms to add a chapel and movie theater. All of these changes also brought changes in the make-up of the congregation.
In 2001 we celebrated our 50th anniversary by dedicating new stained glass windows in the sanctuary and burning the mortgage on the last addition.
Today as we see the town of Affton getting older, as were the base membership. So we continue to progress on making the statement "Welcome Home to Affton Christian Church" represent an environment of security and safety that will attract young families in the community to the benefit of our congregation.
If you would like to know more about our history, what better place than to discuss with our people. Come join us for a service or bible study or whatever. Welcome Home.
