Christian Fellowship Church began as a Wednesday evening Home Group centered on God's Word, in the home of Scott and Nancy Jones in September of 1983. By the end of 1985, the fellowship had grown well and were seeing an increase of visiting adults and children. The group moved to the basement of the First National Bank and Trust in downtown Mt. Vernon. During this time, several families began driving to DuQuoin Christian Fellowship Church for Sunday services. Pastor Percy Pavloff and his wife Fay, would support the small fellowship with prayer, encouragement and teaching.
On February 23, 1986, the fellowship had its first Sunday service in the Good Samaritan Hospital Annex and Sunday School for all ages was started at the same time. On February 26th, the church filed its Articles of Incorporation.
In seeking God's direction for the Body, the men met and prayed regularly. Later in the year (1986), a building at 2416 Cherry Street was being offered at an auction. It had been originally built in 1955 and was the home to the Cherry Street Church of Christ. The purchase became final on December 2nd, 1986 and the small body began the building restoration process. On New Years Eve, 1986, the first meeting was held consisting of a potluck, worship time and communion. The first Sunday service was held in the Fellowship Hall on February 22nd, 1987. After much work, the first service in the sanctuary was held March 8, 1987. The move to a permanent building had come at a cost. Attendance had dropped back almost to the original six to ten families. This did not dampen the Spirit of God's people or deter their efforts. Unbeknown to the small group, the pastor and elders of DuQuoin Christian Fellowship Church had the vision to see a CFC in Mt. Vernon and saved the tithes and offerings of this small band of pioneers as a gift to launch the church.
Chris Hayward became the first Pastor on January 17th, 1988. God worked through Pastor Hayward to sow loving seeds of Grace into His people. During this time a group of Elders was set in place to assist the pastor in governing the Body.
As the Body began to grow again, space became a problem for Sunday School classes. The property east of the church at 2408 Cherry became available and was purchased. It consisted of a one-bedroom home and fenced in back yard. The "little house" as it was called, served as added space for Sunday School classes, Vaction Bible School, and youth meetings. During the week it functioned as a Pre-school under the direction of Jacque Ragain.
In the Spring of 1998, Pastor Chris Hayward sensed the call on his life to serve with Cleansing Stream Ministries. His final Sunday as pastor of CFC was June 28th, 1998. At that time, Elder Dennis Preston was set in as the interim pastor. By October, God had confirmed in the eldership and in the Body that Dennis was to be the next Pastor of CFC. Dennis & Rhonda Preston served the body of CFC and the Lord for 7 years as Pastors at CFC. Seeing the need to transition out of the Pastor position, Dennis found employment back in the Printing business in the Chicago area.
Master Builders offered some names to fill the pastor position and Randy & Oleta Sims were chosen to be interim pastors. After a 3 month interim period, the body of CFC voted to install Randy as Pastor on May 7, 2006.
Randy served as the Pastor until the summer of 2012. After a brief illness he passed away very unexpectedly. God had used him to invigorate CFC in the mission of the kingdom. He not only was loved by the people of CFC but also many in the community were touched by his ministry to them. He had strong ties with other leaders in the body of Christ throughout Mt. Vernon.
For two years members of the leadership team at CFC and Master Builders led and ministered to Christian Fellowship. In 2014 CFC called Tom Hunter to be the Lead Elder and Pastor. He and his wife Trish came to CFC in 2008 and make their home in Mt. Vernon.
God is building for the future at Christian Fellowship. He has laid a glorious foundation of His Grace. The people who attend here are the vital link for the Person of the Holy Spirit to work through in finishing the task He has started. God has equipped each person with a unique talent and ability. He is working through us to reach out to the people of Mt. Vernon. We truly believe that "Every Member is a Minister".
