OUR HISTORY

 

Hillside Missionary Church is a member of the Missionary Church, Inc. Our denomination was organized in its present form as a result of the 1969 merger of the Missionary Church Association and the United Missionary Church. Many of the early members came from a Mennonite background who had been caught up in a religion of empty form and declining tradition. They sensed a need for revival and were a part of the movement that swept across North America in the late nineteenth century.

 

Hillside Missionary Church was conceived in the heart of Pastor Clayton Eby of Shambaugh United Missionary Church in 1958. The first organizational meeting was held in early January of 1959 with the first worship service following soon after on January 18, 1959 at Griswold Hall in the basement of the Farm Bureau building.

 

While the new church met in the Farm Bureau building with Pastor Eby, a committee was formed to begin searching for a lot on which to build a church. The half block property at 20th and Orange Streets was purchased in January 1960, and building began on April 26, 1961. One year later, the church was sufficiently completed to begin holding services there.  Upon completion, the name "Hillside Chapel" was chosen by the congregation.

 

Through the years, Hillside has seen changes in pastors, locations and even the name. In 1988, after four years of remodeling the old Hy-Vee grocery store, the church moved from the former Hillside to the current location of Hillside Missionary Church at 920 South 16th Street in Clarinda.