Members of

the First Christian Church of Tyrone will "meet

under the brush arbor" Sunday, just as their

founders did 100 years ago.

Period

dress is encouraged and Wye Huxford, the church's

minister, will be clothed in simple black trousers, white

shirt, and narrow black tie.

According

to the congregations's historical record, "... it

was decided, that to provide a meeting place, the men

would cut some trees, split some of the logs into slabs

to be used as seats with pegged legs. The remainder of

the timber and the limbs were used to make the brush

arbor under which the first meeting of the College Park

Christian Group was held."

Huxford has

ministered to the 450 members of his congregation for 17

years, going back to the time when the church was on East

Main Street in downtown College Park. First Christian

conducted its first services in its current home on 25

acres off Jenkins Road in Tyrone July 23, 1995. Future

plans include construction of a permanent sanctuary,

leaving the stained glass-appointed fellowship hall open

to meetings for church and community groups.

Associate

minister Billy Rowe has served the church 25 years this

week. "Twenty-five years is a long time, but it

seems like just a few years ago that I sat in the

Fishermen and Willing Workers Sunday School classroom...

they offered me the job as youth minister. As I left the

meeting feeling proud and ready to start my new job E.E.

Rigsby stopped and said, `Welcome aboard, I hope you stay

with us for awhile.'"

In 1998,

the church celebrated a homecoming. It was noted that

"few churches in America reach the age of 100. Even

fewer reach that age with any sort of healthy sense of

future. God has greatly blessed us in that while we

anticipate celebrating our 100th anniversary on Sept. 10,

2000, we do so as a healthy, vital fellowship of God's

people who are convinced that the best is yet to

come."

Memories of

First Christian from its time on East Main to its

relocation in 1966 to Old National Highway were rekindled

Bob and

Doreen Puckett recall, "The beginning of our

children's church, as far as we know the first in any

Christian church in Georgia (or any other church, for

that matter) and how many of those youngsters from

yesteryear are still active in churches in the U.S.A. and

in foreign lands."

John Bowen

has "fond memories of crawling underneath the pews

in the sanctuary from the back to the front, and doing it

in such a way that it did not disturb the adults that

were having choir practice."

Jack

Lenderman remembers, "Amy Duckett and Linda

Richardson being called down by Bob Puckett (former

pastor) during the service for talking and

giggling."

Sunday's

special outdoor service begins at 10:30 a.m. A picnic

lunch on the grounds will follow the service and at 6

p.m. the children's choir will perform "Father Knows

Best."