Dive - What a Funny Name!
Dive Christian Church is just north of the city limits of Bedford in Southern Indiana. We get our name from the community of Dive, which was named after a man named Dives, a freed slave who settled in this area after the Civil War. In October of 2016 we celebrated our 95th year of being a church - click here to see a brief history of our church, narrated by one of our oldest members. We are an independent, non-denominational Christian Church and welcome every person, young and old, to our services to worship the Lord with us. We hold Sunday morning services at 8:30 and 10:30 a.m., and Sunday School for all ages in between at 9:30. We love to sing praises and hymns in our worship services, share communion among those who have accepted Christ and been baptized, and fellowship with each other. We have grown over the years, and in 2003 we finished our Family Life Center, a multi-purpose facility that includes a gym where we now hold our Hoops for Christ, and our Dive Preschool holds their classes through the week. We usually have a Wednesday evening meal at 5:30 followed by a Bible study at 6:30.
We hope to see you soon!
A Brief History of Dive Christian Church
A series of evangelistic meetings were held in the Old Dive School on Peerless Road in the 1920’s. These meetings brought about the birth of Dive Christian Church on June 22, 1921. Thirty-one people became members that day. In time the old school was sold and the church met in homes. In 1922 the first church building for Dive Christian Church was erected on the property of Clarence Hosea.
W.O. Markham was the first minister of the church. Student ministers who served the church in the years to follow were Herman Sears, Floyd Plake, John Williams, and Franklin Bennett. In the first church building, five Sunday school classed were offered, all being taught in the same room, the sanctuary, at the same time. The church building got electricity in 1927.
Clarence Hosea, elder of the church, was considered the spiritual backbone of the church for its first several years. In 1936 Claude Reuter became the minster of Dive Christian Church and for the first time in its history the church offered both morning and evening services. Heat was provided by a coal stove setting in the center of the church building.
The church building was relocated to Dive Christian Church’s own property in 1947. At the relocation site a foyer, basement, and oil furnace were added to the building. In 1953 Claude suffered a stroke that ended his ministry at Dive.
In 1955 Dive hired its first full-time minister, John Sichting. The church built an addition on the building in 1956. John Sichting left Dive in 1958 and a new minister, Jim Walizer, was hired. The church bought a parsonage in 1958 for the minister and his family to live in. Jim concluded his ministry in 1963. Bruce Wotring came and ministered at Dive from 1964-1966. In the fall of 1966, Ronnie Sams became the new minister at Dive.
In early 1966 the church began buying property north of its present location with the intention of relocating. In 1971 a new building on the new site was begun and in 1972 it was finished. For the first time, the congregation had air-conditioning in the new building. Ronnie Sams concluded his ministry in 1972. Eugen Grasham became the new minister in 1972.
In 1974 work began on a new parsonage located behind the church building on the church property. The church parsonage was completed in 1975. In 1976 the church hired its first youth minister, Danny Star. In 1977 Eugene Grasham resigned as minister. Johnny Johnson was hired as minister in 1977 and served until December 2015.
A bus ministry began in 1978 and continues to the present time. There was a two-story addition added to the church in 1983. Thirty-two additional acres were purchased by the church in 1985 and a softball field built. In 1988 a cemetery was established on the church property.
In 2002 the church built the Family Life Center, attached to the existing church facilities. Mac McLaughlin served as the youth minister from 2000 to 2006. Phil McDonald served as the associate minister from 2003 to 2012
Currently, Casey Waltman serves as Children’s Ministry Director (since June 2022), Matt Courtney serves as Youth pastor (since November 2012), and Joe P. McAdams serves as the Senior pastor (since April 2016)
Elders for 2024 are Brent Steele – Chairman, Mike Atchison – co-Chairman, Joe Armstrong, Brad Fortner, Harry Taylor, Dave Brown, Jon Maze, Gary Craig, and Clarence Hall Elder Emeritus.
