Following the July 4, 1960 church fire and subsequent rebuilding of the church, there were two other major community disasters: the May 2, 1963 fire, which consumed much of downtown Cordova, and the 1964 earthquake.
The Cordova Community Baptist Church was in a position to assist the firefighters with support during the fire and for affected families. It also became the temporary headquarters for the Salvation Army and the Red Cross.
When the earthquake occurred less than a year later, the new building was ideal to house most of the 52 Chenega survivors. The Christian Center became their temporary home for almost two months.
Rev. Burt Hall and his family arrived on Oct. 15, 1960. They left in June 1965. Rev. Warren Crain served as pastor from May 1965-February 1969, and Rev. Ken Dunn from October 1970-February 1974.
In August 1975 the church extended a call to Rev. Richard Harding and Rev. Robert Varnam to be the pastoral team. The Varnams arrived in October 1975, followed by Richard and Susan Harding and children Nancy and John in December.
Susan Harding was appointed Christian Center director in January 1976 and has served in that position since then. The Christian Center has played an important role in the church and community since its beginning in 1955. Besides the preschool, Vacation Bible School, summer clubs and camps, new programs were added after the arrival of the Hardings and Varnams, including Kids of the Kingdom (1978), Good News Kids (1980), and Teens of the Kingdom (1982).
Vernyl Swanson came as a volunteer in the fall of 1978 to serve as music director. She planned for one year of service and stayed for 21. She was an important part of these programs, especially Good News Kids and Kids of the Kingdom. The musicals the Kids of the Kingdom put on each year were a huge hit. Many Cordova children sang their first solo in one of these programs.
With Rev. Richard Harding as pastor, and later his son John after Richard’s retirement (1999), these programs continued plus many more, including Home Port, Mission trips to Mexico, family nights, and Thursday night special dinners at Home Port with Betty Siemion, a community favorite. These programs and many more were accomplished not only by the members of the congregation but also by many volunteers, plus work groups from the Lower 48, who were always an important part of the church. The Annex was built with some of these work groups and was then rented to the Net Loft.
Rev. John Harding and family – Piper, Luke and Zoe – left Cordova in May 2010. Rev. France Marcott served as interim pastor from May 2010-October 2012. Rev. Charley Pitchford and family arrived on a dark rainy night in November 2013 and left in August 2018.
Pastor Mike Glover and Mandy answered a “Wanted – Pastor in Small Town in Alaska” ad and arrived from Florida in October 2019. Programs have continued, some have changed, new ones have started, and the church, with Pastor Mike’s vision for the future, is looking forward to the next 75 years.
One of the biggest challenges facing the church has been the poor condition of the facility. It is 63 years old, and time and weather have not been kind to the building. The windows leak, the roof has been repaired several times, and the siding is in decay.
In a remarkable turn of events, Samaritan’s Purse, a non-denominational humanitarian organization whose president is Franklin Graham, son of Christian evangelist Billy Graham, has committed to building a new Cordova Community Baptist Church.
Plans and details are already being worked out. Groundbreaking will begin in April 2026, and the new church is scheduled to be finished by October 2026.
What a great way to start the next 75 years for the Cordova Community Baptist Church.
(Note: A special thanks to Sue Shellhorn of the CCBC Timeline Archive Project for providing much of this information.)
