About Summit

"For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another."  (I John 3:11)

"Many times new congregations are founded out of dispute.  This congregation was founded out of love."  These were the words of Bob Williams, elder for the Central Church of Christ in Cincinnati, Ohio, at the dedication of Summit's new building on September 27, 1981.  The Central congregation was very instrumental in planting the Summit Church of Christ in the late 1970's.  Two families, the Carters and Ginters, from Campbell County, attended the Central congregation in the 1970's.  Sometime around 1975, Ken Carter preached a sermon at Central on "Multiply and Divide" where he presented the demographics of various cities in northern Kentucky where there were no congregations of the church of Christ.  The purpose of this lesson was to encourage congregations like Central to grow (multiply) to the point that they could establish other congregations by several members moving (divide) to a community to begin the work.  At the same time, Harold Ginter was encouraging the elders to assist in establishing a congregation in southern Campbell County.   In the early summer of 1978, Art Watson, an elder at Central, approached Ken and asked him if he was ready to practice what he preached.  Art explained that the elders at Central were interested in helping establish a congregation in Campbell County and that he and his family would be willing to move from Cincinnati to northern Kentucky to assist in that effort.  Furthermore, Art explained that he had a friend, Charles Gambill, who was completing his studies at Sunset School of Preaching and was looking at several mission fields.  Art, Harold, and Ken made arrangements for Charles and his wife Betty, along with a representative from Charles' sponsoring congregation, the Walnut Hill Church of Christ in Dallas, Texas, to come to northern Kentucky to study the possibility of selecting this area.  Charles had other locations that he was considering; however, he and Betty chose to move to Campbell County.  Therefore, these four families decided to move ahead with the planning.

As a part of the planning process, Charles Gambill made contact  with the area congregations to let them know of plans and to determine whether they could foresee any problems in establishing the congregation in rural Campbell County.  All of the congregations encouraged the work and gave their wholehearted support. 

In the fall of 1978, a house and approximately 11 acres was located in Cold Spring for a possible home for what would become known the Summit Church of Christ.  An Option to Purchase was negotiated with the understanding that occupancy would not take place until April, 1979 and that zoning would be changed to permit the construction of a church building.  The old frame house would be remodeled to allow for assemblies, including worship and classes until the new facilities could be built.   Over nine months of planning took place before the first service was conducted.   The first worship service for the Summit Church of Christ was conducted on April 15, 1979;  a total of 54 persons were in attendance.  On that day, eleven families decided to become members of the congregation.  With continued reconstruction, the old frame house would  seat approximately 80 persons.  One of the first persons to be baptized at Summit was the late Garnet Gray.  She was an excellent painter; to commemorate those early days, she painted a picture of the original house located on the summit near where the new building now stands.  The picture shown to the left now hangs in the foyer of the new building.  The old barn shown in this picture was burned for safety reasons and to make room for parking; however, before the barn was destroyed, Gene Harlow took some of the boards to make a picture frame.  The frame for this beautiful painting was made by Gene from that old barn.

The house very quickly became too small and it was evident that a new building would need to be constructed.  Vacation Bible Schools and Gospel Meetings had to be held in a tent.   In addition, any other type of area wide activity taxed the capacity of the house.  The planning for a new  building began in 1980 and construction got underway in the fall of that year; the building was completed in July, 1981 allowing for seating of approximately 180 persons and providing adequate classroom space.  By the mid 1990's, though, the church again needed more space; an addition to the building was constructed in 1998 allowing for new classrooms and offices and an expansion of the auditorium.  This building will now seat over 300 persons.   The original building was designed as a four-phase effort; in the fourth phase, over 500 persons could be seated.  The fourth phase also includes a multi-purpose building to be used for classrooms and for other purposes.  At the present time, we are in the third phase; approximately 200 persons are in attendance on Sunday morning 

When you visit Summit, you will note not only the above picture hanging in the foyer, but you will also notice two other items that were a part of the original worship facility.  These are the first pulpit and the first communion table,  shown below.

                     First Pulpit                                                                                               First Communion Table

A set of by-laws was developed to guide not only the initial group of families who became charter members but future members as well.  These by-laws set out scripturally-based beliefs so that there would be no misunderstanding regarding how the new congregation would function. 

Less than nine months after the establishment of the congregation, three elders (Ken Carter, Charles Gambill, and Art Watson) were appointed to shepherd the congregation.  Soon thereafter, two deacons (Barry Corrado and Harold Painter) were appointed.  Over the past 27 years nine men have served as elders of the Summit congregation:  Bruce Adams, Leon Brown, Ken Carter, Charles Gambill, Gene Harlow, Thomas Smith, Art Watson, Mike White, and Fred Wolfe.   A total of 17 men have served as deacons during this same time frame:  Bruce Adams, Jeff Adams, Mike Adams, Clark Boyd, Leon Brown, Barry Corrado, Mark Curtis, Chris Guin, David Hammer, Sr., Ron Harlow, Bill Herald, Jr., Pat Moore, Harold Painter, Tom Painter, Sam Scalf, Mike White, and Jim York.

The Walnut Hill congregation in Dallas, Texas was very instrumental in supporting the new congregation for many years -- not only financially, but by giving unselfishly of their time.  Many families from Dallas spent time in northern Kentucky assisting and encouraging.  This included door knocking, conducting Vacation Bible Schools, holding gospel meetings, and providing encouragement through their follow-up activities.  In addition, their selection of a mature couple, Charles and Betty Gambill,  made the work progress much more smoothly.   Charles served as the first minister and Betty established or help establish many activities, including the nursery/cradle roll and ladies' programs.  All of these efforts worked in establishing a model for how a new congregation should be planted; we are eternally grateful for their dedication. 

The congregation has been blessed since 1979 with the presence of three faithful gospel preachers who have served the congregation as pulpit ministers:  Charles Gambill, Jim Savage, and Thomas Smith.  The congregation is currently shepherded by three elders:  Bruce Adams, Leon Brown, and Thomas Smith. 

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