A.C. Watkins, Page 2

A.C. Watkins and Charles Stalker

One of Watkins' visions was the establishment of a congregation of The Church of God (Holiness) in a great metropolitan center. Many of the early churches were situated in small cities and villages, even in the countryside. He chose Kansas City, where he was now residing. On the evening of April 9, 1914, approximately a dozen people met with him in a rented store building. Nine of those present became the founding members of the new congregation. Services were held in rented buildings, until July 1917, when a basement was built at 29th and Askew. In 1928 a superstructure was added. During this time of his early ministry Bro. Watkins was an officer of the Commerce Trust Co., of Kansas City. This association was necessary because of financial considerations attending the establishment of a young church. The mortgage on the basement was burned at the watch night service, December 31, 1922. The mortgage taken out in order to erect the superstructure was retired in 1943 with money pledged in a special Easter service. He served continuously as pastor of the church until the time of his death.

Bro. Watkins was a great preacher. Early in his ministry he regularly went to hear great preachers and observed how they read the Word of God and delivered their sermons. His sermons were thoughtful, developed thematically so as to build up conclusively to the force of the subject he was presenting, and, even more importantly, filled with spiritual instruction and inspiration. The young men and women, many of them destined for the ministry, who attended KCCBS and regularly heard his sermons found in them a valuable example of effective preaching. He was a man of prayer, often spending entire nights in prayer.

The other vision, to which he was devoted throughout his ministry, was the establishment of a general college representative of the entire constituency. His efforts to establish the college in Kansas City, Missouri, go back to the year 1913. At that time, College Mound was a center for the "Supremacy" branch of the church, where both McGee Holiness College and the annual camp meeting were located. The annual convention that year was held in Kansas City, Missouri. A proposal to locate the College in Kansas City, where the advantages of a metropolitan setting would alleviate the limiting circumstances of a rural environment, was defeated. Presumably, Bro. Watkins was a leading figure in support of the proposal. In 1921 the school at College Mound closed because of financial problems.

From this time forward, particularly after he established the Kansas City church, Bro. Watkins pressed for a general college in that city. In February of 1924 a meeting, which was chaired by him, was held in Kansas City to consider the founding of a general school. A resolution to that effect was adopted and a general council formed. Beyond this, there was no further action.

About this time the property in Overland Park, where the present College is located, became available for purchase. It had been a sanitarium, but was then not in use. Bro. Watkins urged the leaders of the church to purchase the property and establish a college. Although his recommendation was not received, he continued to press upon the church the wisdom of a general school in Kansas City.

Next Page...