In the early 1960’s, there was a need for congregations of churches of Christ to be established in the Northeast.  Mr. Eugene Brewer, after corresponding with W.E. Hebbard from the West Hartford, CT congregation, moved his family from Stamford, Texas to Manchester, CT for the purpose of starting a new congregation there.   His supporting congregation was the church of Christ in Muskogee, Oklahoma.  The Orange Hall on East Center Street in Manchester was rented as a meeting place. 

On September 10, 1961 seven families began meeting.  They included:  Richard and Betty Crehan and four children of Colchester; Edmund and Eva Post and three children of Marlborough, A.J. and Polly Todd and three children of Vernon, Martin and Nelda Gay of Manchester, Marion and Claudia Springer and a child from South Windsor, Jim and Connie Herndon of Vernon, Alison Buxton (Nadeau) of Tolland, and Eugene and Barbara Brewer and four daughters—30 people, including 17 members.  On this day, Eugene began his long service as minister of the new congregation.

In November of 1961, a committee was formed to begin the search for a building site, and a building fund was established.  In April of 1963, lots were purchased on the corner of Lydall and Vernon Streets in Manchester, and construction of a new building began in November.  The church met in their new building for the first time on May 3, 1964 with 45 attending Bible class, 60 attending worship service, and a contribution of $168.

The young church continued to grow.  In 1973, some of the members began a new congregation in Storrs, Connecticut.  The church’s first elders were ordained on September 30, 1973—A.J. Todd, Don Nelson, and Eugene Brewer.  The first deacons were appointed on December 30 of that year—George Caruthers, Ken Arey, Jim Todd, Ken Wagner, Ed Post, and Don Summers.  The church continued to grow to the point where more room was needed, so ground was broken for an addition which was completed in September 1978.  As time passed, more elders and deacons were appointed, and assistant ministers were hired including Mike Lawlor, Steve Holt, and Gareth Flanary.  In 1983, a group from Manchester started a new congregation in Tolland.

In 1993, founding minister Eugene Brewer retired after 31 years of service; however, he remained an elder and continued to serve as education director and write the Bible class curriculum. Raul Fonseca and Charles Wilson each served as minister for a time, and on March 1, 1998, Arnie Holmes began his service as the pulpit minister.  A youth minister, Kerry Richardson, was hired in 1999 followed by J.P. Conway in 2000,Bryan Gray in 2007, and Brady Easter in 2009.

The church continued to grow.  In April, 1999, the Manchester congregation began conducting two A.M. Sunday services and also began the process of searching for land on which to build a new building.  On January 31, 2001 the church purchased property at 601 Tolland Turnpike in Manchester.  An adjoining property was purchased later in that year, and a major capital fund raising campaign was begun in order to raise funds for a new building.

On May 31, 2004 the church was shaken by the unexpected death of Barbara Brewer, wife of Eugene Brewer.  On June 16, 2004 ground was broken for the new facility at 595 Tolland Turnpike.  On April 10, 2005, over 316 people gathered for the last worship service at 394 Lydall St.  On April 17, 335 people attended the first service in the new building on Tolland Turnpike.  During 2007, the average attendance at the Sunday morning worship service had grown to 283.  In July 2007, Anthony Melakian was hired as on outreach minister, making three ministers currently on staff.  In February 2009, Scott Stafford and Peter Scanlon were added to the eldership, bringing the current number of elders to six.

A MORE COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE MANCHESTER CHURCH OF CHRIST CAN BE OBTAINED IN THE CHURCH OFFICE OR VIEWED IN THE MEMBER’S SECTION OF THE CHURCH WEB PAGE.