Pastor Marks His 25th Year At Newtown Christian Church

By Kaaren Valenta

Motorists on Sugar Street (Route 302) often slow to read the changing message on the sign in front of the Newtown Christian Church.

“Ch…ch What’s missing? U R” read the sign one week, and “Remember it was professionals who built the Titanic and amateurs who built the ark,” it proclaimed another week. The signs are the handiwork of the Rev Jack Tanner, whose polo shirt bears the inscription “Changing Lives For Jesus Christ.”

When Jack Tanner arrived in Newtown from the Midwest to become pastor at the Newtown Christian Church in 1980, he never dreamed that he would still be here 25 years later.

“We feel that God has us here for a reason,” Mr Tanner said.

Newtown Christian Church had been without a pastor for nearly two years before the Tanner family arrived. It had been founded by Elmer Kyle’s Go Ye Chapel Missions of New York City, a “church planting” organization, now entering its 52nd year, that works to start nondenominational Christian churches, patterned after the churches of the New Testament, in inner city locations in the northeast region of the United States. GYMC provides administration for the project and part of the startup costs.

“A woman came from Bridgeport to New York to talk to them about starting a church in Bridgeport,” Mr Tanner explained. “They started the church and met in a building in Bridgeport but it was in such bad shape that they couldn’t afford to fix it.”

Many members of the congregation came long distances to attend services there. So when the decision was made to find land to build a new church, the congregation split into three parts. One group built the Woodland Church of Christ in Oxford, another established a church in Bloomfield that years later joined with another congregation to become the Colonial Point Christian Church in Manchester. The third group came to Newtown on October 31, 1965, and met for services in the Alexandria Room of Edmond Town Hall. Gerald L. Dye served as the church’s first minister.

“About 1969 they purchased 2½ acres [on Sugar Street] that had a two-car garage on it,” Mr Tanner said. “They stored the supplies in it while they built the church. In the early 1980s, the garage was converted to classrooms then, a few years ago, it became the church office and library/conference room.”

The church was dependent upon support from the Go Ye Chapel Missions during its first 13 years, but became self supporting when its fourth pastor, Rick Fordyce, was serving. After he left, the congregation began the search for another pastor.

“My cousin, Betty McFarland, who now lives in Virginia, was a member of the church,” Mr Tanner said. “So we had a relative here.”

Jack Tanner grew up in a church-going family in the Midwest. He was born in La Porte, Ind., and grew up in Rolling Prairie, Ill. His father, an elder in the church, had three brothers who were ministers. When his grandparents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, it was attended by their 50 grandchildren, more than 15 of whom were in the ministry.

But Jack Tanner’s original plan was to pursue a football scholarship and go to Purdue University to study architecture.

“My mother asked me to go to Bible college for one semester, and once I had been there for two months, I knew I’d be there permanently,” he said.

He graduated from Lincoln Christian College and Seminary in Lincoln, Ill, in 1973 with a bachelor’s degree in music and Christian education. He was ordained in 1975.

“I was the youth minister in La Porte for six years, then I went back to the college and became the cafeteria manager there,” he said. “It was not my choice but God wanted me there.”

In the summer of 1979 he came to Newtown for a summer internship and part way through it, the elders of the church asked him if he wanted to come and preach fulltime.

“I said ‘no’ at that time because I didn’t want to leave [the Midwest],” Mr Tanner said. “My grandparents had lived far away from me when I was growing up, and I never got to know them. I didn’t want the same for my children, but doors opened and we had to walk through.”

As it became clear that they were meant to come to Newtown, Jack and Penny Tanner packed their belongings and moved to Connecticut with their 5-year-old daughter, Tami. A year later their son, Jamie, was born, and another daughter, Janet, was born the following year. The family lived in a house in Brookfield until the congregation built a parsonage.

“I never thought I’d be here for 25 years,” Mr Tanner said. “I thought maybe five or six years. But this is home now. God has blessed us. The congregation has been very gracious.”

On April 29 the congregation surprised their pastor with a party at the adjacent Rock Ridge Country Club, honoring his 25 years of service.

“I was totally flabbergasted,” Pastor Tanner said. “I thought I was going to an engagement party for my daughter’s husband’s brother.”

The event was well attended, with many former members of the congregation returning from other states to attend. Over the years, the congregation has served more than 600 families. At its peak, the congregation numbered about 125, today is has 35–40 members adults and children from about 18 households.

“We are in a rebuilding time,” Mr Tanner said. “Families move in and out. If nothing else maybe we are a teaching church — equipping our members to go someplace else. That’s fine, too.”

Newtown Christian Church is a member of the Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, an autonomous group of about 5,000 churches, predominately in the Midwest, with a membership of about 1.2 million.

“Each church governs itself,” Mr Tanner said. “There is no headquarters, no policy, no governing board. We get together at the North American Christian Convention. Our motto is ‘We are not the only Christians, but we are only Christians.’”

The Newtown Christian Church supports mission efforts throughout the world, including a family in Africa, as well as responding to the local needs of Newtown and the surrounding area. The church also hosts special events at various times during the year.

In 1999 Rev Tanner made a 900-mile bike ride from Newtown to Rolling Prairie to celebrate his 50thbirthday and raise money for three of his favorite causes: All God’s Children, Inc, a mission to support children orphaned because of AIDS; a new church planting in Connecticut; and the work and ministry of his church.

In May 2004, he challenged himself to ride from Restoration House Ministries in Manchester, N.H., to SunCrest Christian Church in St John’s, Ind., to raise funds again.

Because his church is small, outreach into the community is often done on a very personal level by the congregation.

“I ask them to do random acts of kindness everywhere,” Mr Tanner said.

At Christmas some of the church members handed out $3 coupons at the Dodgingtown Market. They have given free windshield washes and are planning a free car wash and maybe free ice cream cones.

“We want to be good neighbors,” Pastor Tanner said. “We’re not here to convert you. But we are here if you are looking for a spiritual journey.”