University Church of Christ Records, 1973-2010

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Summary

Abstract:
The University Church of Christ (also known as Malibu Church of Christ) began in late February, 1970 in Malibu, California. The congregation has ranged in size from a handful of members to more than 500. The bulk of the collection is made up of bulletins, directories, financial records, correspondence, sermon audio recordings, and meeting minutes ranging in date from 1973 to 2010. Other supplementary documents include the beliefs of the church, mission efforts, building plans, and ministerial positions in the church.
Extent:
16 Linear Feet (27 Hollinger boxes, 2 cartons, four 8" X 12" X 4" cassette boxes)
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

[Box/folder# or item name], University Church of Christ Records, Collection no. 0130, Special Collections and University Archives, University Libraries, Pepperdine University.

Background

Scope and content:

Series 1: Subject Files contains church bulletins, directories, financial records, correspondence, and meeting minutes for various committees ranging in date from 1973 to 2010. Other supplementary documents include the beliefs of the church, mission efforts, building plans, job records, and ministerial positions in the church. Series 2: Sermons contains audio cassette recordings of sermons given by various individuals from 1973 to 2005. Sub-series 1 contains sermons given by Ken Durham from 1999 to 2005. Sub-series 2 contains sermons given by Dan Anders, Lynn Anderson, Mike Armour, Andy Benton, Chris Bullard, Glenn Boyd, Randy Chestnutt, Chap Clark, Greg Daum, Ken Dye, John Ellas, Doug Fields, Carl Flynn, Terry Giboney, Susan Giboney, Randy Gill, Ron Highfield, Oliver Howard, Richard Hughes, Howard Jones, John Jones, Furman Kearley, Scott Lambert, Hung Le, Reuel Lemmons, Marcia Lewis, Stuart Love, Bill MacPhee, Abraham Malherbe, Tim Matheny, Martin Marty, Mike Myers, Cindy Novak, Tom Olbricht, Mike Casey, Helen Young, Debbie Brown, Dwayne Simmons, Frank Pack, Jamie and Ron Phillips, Kanet Thomas, Jere Yates, Milt Shatzer, Rubel Shelly, Ron Smith, Dan Spader, Tim Spivey, Stephen Stewart, William Stivers, James Thompson, Darryl Tippens, Linda Truschke, Rich Van Pelt, Travis Weber, Matt Dildine, Lydia Wilburn, John Wilson from 1973 to 2005.

Biographical / historical:

The University Church of Christ began in late February, 1970. Initially, five to six families gathered for worship service in the basement of the Los Angeles County Court House on Civic Center Way in Malibu. The group wished to establish a presence in Malibu prior to the construction of Pepperdine's new campus. In 1971, the church moved to the first floor court chambers and converted the basement into classrooms. Founding members include the families of Bill Banowsky, Bill Brown, Ansel Buchanan, Bob Gilliam, Walter Glass, Grover Goyne, Dude Higgins, Jerry Hudson, Norman Hughes, John Nicks, Ken Perrin, Edward Rockey, Jere Yates, and M. Norvel Young.

In the fall of 1972, the church moved to the new Pepperdine University Malibu campus where they held Sunday services in the recently completed Elkins Auditorium at Seaver College. The following fall, Stauffer Chapel was completed and to this day, the church meets between the two locations.During the Covid pandemic, the church met first on Zoom, then outdoors in the amphitheater on the Malibu campus.

For the first 15 years of the church's history, several members shared preaching duties including Ed Rockey (1970-1974), Tony Ash (1972-1975), Robert Douglas (1975-1978), Jerry Rushford, Michael Gose (1978-1981), Don Crawford (1981-1982), David Davenport (1982-1985), Carroll Osburn (1983-1984), and Jon Free (1984-1985). In 1985, the congregation appointed its first full-time preaching minister, Dan Anders, who filled that role until 1998. Ken Durham succeeded Anders and served until 2011. In subsequent years, preaching ministers were Rich Little, Al Sturgeon, and Eric Wilson.

Since its organization, the church has ranged in size from a handful of members to more than 500. The church has been referred to as Malibu Church of Christ and University Church of Christ but today is officially referred to as University Church of Christ.

Acquisition information:
The collection was transferred to Special Collections and University Archives by Dr. David Baird on July 11, 2014.
Processing information:

The collection was arranged and described by Melanie Greer under the supervision of Katie Richardson in March, 2015. Updated by Lucy Perrin, February 2023.

Arrangement:

The collection is organized alphabetically by folder title.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Advance notice required for access.

Terms of access:

Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder.

Preferred citation:

[Box/folder# or item name], University Church of Christ Records, Collection no. 0130, Special Collections and University Archives, University Libraries, Pepperdine University.

Location of this collection:
24255 Pacific Coast Highway
Malibu, CA 90263-4786, US
Contact:
(310) 506-4323
specialcollections@pepperdine.edu
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