1098 - Comanche Reformed Church

In the late 1800s, it was thought that there was both a need and an opportunity for more Christian work among the Comanche people. As early as the 1820s, missionaries were active as far west as Oklahoma, and by the 1850s, had established churches, schools, and mission stations among the Cherokee, Comanche, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and many other native peoples.

Near the turn of the century, the Women’s Executive Committee of the Reformed Church in America sent the Reverend Frank Hall Wright, a member of the Choctaw tribe, into the field to connect with the Comanche. His heart yearned to reach the unreached, with the hope-filled message of the Gospel of Christ. The beginning of the Old Comanche Indian Mission, which would later become known as the Comanche Reformed Church, dates back to 1897, when the Reverend performed the first baptisms under a brush arbor near the present-day location of the church. In 1903, following another camp meeting, a group of three Comanches, Nahwats, Periconic, and Howard White Wolf, traveled east to petition the Reformed Church of America to send them a preacher and organize a church. Their wishes were granted. In 1905, the Reformed Church erected a wood-frame sanctuary and parsonage with the first service was held on July 19, 1906 by Reverend Wright.

On May 1, 1907, the Comanche Reformed Church was officially organized with 63 charter members. The first pastor was the Reverend L.L. Legters who arrived in 1906 and faithfully served until 1910. Under his discipleship, Sunday School attendance nearly tripled, starting with 45 attendees and growing to 125 by 1910. Fifteen years later, the Reverend Robert Chaat of the Comanche Indian Tribe began his ministry of the Comanche Reformed Church. He was the first Native American to be ordained by the Reformed Church of America and devotedly served his people for over 45 years. The church was demolished in 1932 and replaced with the current stone building, which was completed in 1941. The original bell is still on display, preserved through the efforts of the congregation and the Institute of the Great Plains. Its hauntingly beautiful sound welcomed people to church and rang for funerals, weddings, and countless other occasions, both sad and joyous. Then and now, the Comanche Reformed Church is a symbol of hope and community for the people of Lawton.