Located in Trafalgar, IN just off SR-135!

If you are local to Trafalgar, Prince’s Lakes, Nineveh, Morgantown, Franklin, Amity, or surrounding areas, join us at 10am on Sundays or check out our previous messages!

Our History

Samaria Christian Church is an independent non-denominational body of Christians recognizing the New Testament as our constitution. The church began with Jesus’ resurrection and His giving of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost which is recorded in Acts, Chapter 2. This local body met for several years and was organized in 1887. The original building was completed in the fall of that year and an additional area was built in 1970-1971 on the south side of the original building and in 1985 the facility was remodeled to make the sanctuary larger. The property to build a new church was donated by Benjamin and Nancy Byers on April 23, 1887 and was deeded to the trustees of Samaria Christian Church.

In 1986 a new building with a larger sanctuary, office space, classrooms, nursery and choir room was started and completed in the spring of 1988. A canopy was added over the driveway in 1995. This has been a blessing to the church and is being used for His Kingdom and work.

Samaria Christian Church has a wonderful history, and a glorious future. There is only one glorious age for the church and it is when Jesus returns to take His children home. This is what the founders looked forward to and it is what we look forward to today.

The first minister of Samaria was John C. Miller of Nineveh. He was a circuit rider minister. He served four different churches and preached here for about two hours every four or five weeks.

The next minister was Ernest Linton who served from August 31, 1897 to April 12, 1912. There were several years that the church was without a regular minister, but Sunday School continued. Other denominations tried to take over the church but Elza Buckner turned them away, saying that it would remain a Christian Church.

The next minister of record was Harold Ford, an evangelist. Wilma Ruth Hogan was baptized by him on February 26, 1935. In 1936 Cecil Parkhurst was minister. He stated that in 1936 Alvin Cummings, Lawrence Cecil and himself wired the church for electricity. It was during this period that the church building was moved back from the road to make way for state road 135 to be built.

Other ministers on record to preach at Samaria Christian Church:

• Clarence E. Davis of Morgantown preached from the first Sunday of December, 1946 until 1951.
• Forrest Cook was ordained in Samaria Church on January 7, 1951 and ministered here until August 28, 1955.
• Mr. Trueblood was accepted and preached. He resigned because he was not a Christian Church minister.
• Don Laymon was minister in 1957.
• Lee Tharp and Richard Throckmorton were part-time ministers while they were at Johnson Bible College. Lee became the minister and preached during 1957 and 1958.
• Paul W. Eddingfield ministered from April 26, 1959 until September 7, 1968. During March and April, 1960, Richard Throckmorton preached and won several young people to Christ and they were baptized.
• Ora Davis served as minister from September 29, 1968 until December 31, 1983. During this time the classroom and fellowship area were built onto the original building.
• Dan Bunch was minister from January 8, 1984 until March, 1992. During his ministry the church grew rapidly. The new building was built and the church average attendance from January, 1991 to March, 1992 was 228.
• Steve Vaughn was youth minister from January, 1986 until August, 1987.
• Scott Davis was youth minister from October, 1987 until July, 1988.
• Mike Nicholas was the youth minister from October, 1990 till October 31, 1993. David Misner became minister on July 5, 1992. During his ministry, the church experienced some ups and downs. Through some struggles the church declined. David left November 14, 1993. God has remained steadfast and true to His promises, blessing Samaria through some tough situations. Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.”
• Clarence Taylor and others filled in from November 1993-March, 1994.
• Mike Tinkler came April 1, 1994. Much healing has taken place and love has prevailed.

We still have a long way to go; Jesus is building His church and is doing a great work. He is using imperfect people to do a perfect work. We look to him for our redemption. Our mission statement at Samaria Christian Church is “Loving God and Loving People” If you are looking for a church home you will find the church at Samaria to be a loving people dedicated to the Lord Jesus. Samaria has a vision for the future and a goal to be found faithful to the call of Christ when He returns. If you have questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to us or check out our past messages.