Add an Article Add an Event Edit

New York Avenue Church Of Christ Arlington

5731 New York Avenue
817-465-6500

In 1969, the southeast area of Arlington was growing. The Elders of the Hillcrest congregation, John Roden, Roy Whiteworth, and James Kite, recognized the need to establish a congregation in that part of Arlington. They consulted with the elders from Randol Mill, Park Row, and Woodland West congregations and received their encouragement to find property and start a new congregation.

The Hillcrest elders purchased land from the Jerry and Norma Miller family in 1970. The 8.6 acre site on Mayfield Road between Collins and New York Avenue was selected for the location of the future building.

On January 3, 1971, a meeting was held in the Hillcrest auditorium and 18 families indicated that they would be responsible for getting the work started. They started meeting at the Hillcrest Building at 2:00 PM on Sunday afternoon, January 24, 1971.

In a short time the congregation stared meeting at the YMCA building on New York Avenue. Ground breaking for a new building was held on Sunday, July 11, 1971, and construction started immediately. The first service was held Sunday, December 19, 1971. The congregation soon outgrew that building and in late 1975 began work on a larger auditorium surrounded by classrooms. The first service was held on May 16, 1976.

During the late 1970's and 1980's, the congregation was blessed by strong leadership. Ministers during this time were: Chester Hill, Ben Dugan, Larry Keele, Brooks Terry, Rick Massey. Youth Ministers: John Strong and Mike Wyatt. Elders that served: Chester Hill, Jack Hairrell, Jesse Blackman, Marvin Allen, Bob Nowell, Elton Freeman, and Harry Lawing.

In the early morning hours of March 22, 1991, two arsonists set fire to the building, piling songbooks in the foyer and soaking them with an accelerant. The building was destroyed, leaving only the beams of the original auditorium standing. For several months, the congregation met in the Hillcrest Church of Christ building for mid-day Sunday services. Evening services were held at the Stoneridge Club House on Grants Parkway in Arlington, Texas.

Recognizing that the process of rebuilding was going to take time, the men of the congregation obtained a temporary location at 805 Secretary Drive. In what had been a carpet showroom and warehouse, the members build classrooms and office space to accommodate the needs of the congregation. The first service was held on August 18, 1991, with a membership of 180.

During this time, the Tommy Johnson family moved to Arlington and began working for the congregation on August 9, 1992. A decision was made by the membership to find a new location for the congregation since Arlington was continuing to grow to the south. The property at 1404 Mayfield Road was sold to Jerry Jordan December 1992.

The men of the congregation began searching for a location to build a new building south of Interstate 20. After considering several properties, a 6 1/2 acre site at 5371 New York Avenue was purchased on November 1, 1993.

Ground breaking occurred December 12, 1993. With the change in location, the name Mayfield Road Church of Christ seemed no longer appropriate and the members selected the new name of New York Avenue Church of Christ. Construction on the building took about a year and, on December 18, 1994, the first service was held at New York Avenue Church of Christ.

Having been without elders for several years, the congregation sought out spiritual men to fill these roles. Four Elders, Jim Gragg, Jerry Herring, Harry Lawing, and Bill Stinson were installed February 11, 1996. Harry later resigned due to health reasons. Deacons were appointed April 14, 1996. The other three elders served alone until 2001 when addtional elders were appointed.

Later that same year on April 14, 1996, nineteen deacons were appointed: Andy Bennett, Tommy Antwine, Rick Broadus, Joe Bob Brown, Richard Cheek, Dale Clavel, Duane Cook, Don Hammonds, Randy Gray, Don Davies, Charles Hervey, Warren Miller, Craig Minkner, Bruce Moore, Chris Parker, Alex Muller, Rick Spelce, Nick Poulos, Tommy Stinson, and Dwight Wacaster.

As the congregation grew, the need for a youth minister was identified. Mikel Peterson was hired as Youth Minister on August 3, 1997. Under his guidance, the youth group took mission trips to Tuscon, AZ, Kountze, TX and Marysville, CA.

The congregation has always supported missionaries in the United States and around the world, such as Slavador Cariaga in the Philippines. The elders of New York Avenue led the congregation to a new level of mission involvement by accepting the oversight of Chimala Mission & Hospital, January 1998. While many individuals and congregations provide financial support, the elders are involved in planning and supervising the work at Chimala. The work expanded to include a primary school in January 1999. Robert Stapleton is currently serving as coordinator with his wife Marcia and daughter Lisa. Two Stapleton sons are serving with their families as missionaries at Chimala. Heath and Becky Stapleton, with their son Will, have been serving there since January 1998. Darrin and Carrie Stapleton began their work with Chimala in May 1999.

The congregation had grown enough by 1999 to require additional space. New classrooms were added and additional pews were installed in the auditorium. A large warehouse was built to provide space for sorting and shipping supplies to Chimala and for storing the vans and other materials for the church.

The congregation continued to grow which motivated the elders to seek additional leaders. Four additional elders installed April 8th, 2001: Randy Gray, Jim Moore, Chris Parker and Nick Poulos. Eight additional deacons were appointed August 19th 2001: Archie Crow, Kevin Crum, Trey Fricks, Trevor Heilman, Craig Roberts, Charles Smith, Bill Taylor, and Charles Willingham.

Rob Waller, one of the members, served as interim youth minister during the summer and fall of 2001, taking the youth group on a mission trip to Strafford, TX. The elders hired Trent Tanaro to fill the fulltime youth minister position January 2002. Trent continued to work in that position until the fall of 2004 when he moved.

In April, 2005, Jason Terry began working with the congregation as Youth Minister. He arrived just in time to assist with the "We Care" campaign being conducted by the We Care cadre workers and New York Ave members.


Photos