Our Story

Fairhill Community Church of God in Fairbanks, Alaska has served the Fairbanks community since the 1950's. It was originally a church plant from the Church of God organization, based in Anderson, Indiana, and had its original location on the south side of Fairbanks, and was called Community Church of God.  The church had a new pastor arrive in 1970 to take over the pulpit and shortly thereafter, he started working on a relocation plan for the building.  He found a hillside location on the north end of town and made arrangements to purchase a lot there and another lot a couple hundred feet up the hill for his family's new residence.  In 1972, the new church was in the construction phase and was soon ready for services. The pastor's daughter had a burning for the children in the area and felt a strong need to start a school that would have God as the focal point for their education. With a little shifting of furniture in the supporting rooms of the church, she was able to create the space that would become Fairhill Christian School.  As the years went by, and the demand for more space manifested itself, there were 2 atco units added to the lot and they became 4 large classrooms. Soon, it was decided that a dedicated school was needed for the increase in students and staff.

Fairhill Christian School

 In 2002, construction started on a 17,000 square ft facility on an adjacent lot, to become the new home for the school. This new campus served on the average of 130 students per year and employed 10's of teachers and support staff, who in turn, provided these young people with a quality, God centered education that will affect these children's lives for years to come. However, it was not without its challenges.  The hill that the church and school were built on was plagued with pockets of permafrost, soil that is predominately silt, and an artesian well to boot.  These ingredients mixed together made for a major challenge to the governing body and has become a source of financial and structural angst.  There were many plans and solutions that were attempted over the years to mitigate the impending movement the hill was imposing on the structures, and they slowed the effect down for a while.  But the hill was winning the battle and engineers were called in to see what could be done to cure the problem. The church suffered the first structural damage as the hill was moving underneath and forcing the walls to collapse under the strain of moving earth.  We moved from the church building to the multipurpose room in the school to hold our Sunday services and that has been a major blessing.  We spent about 3 years in there before it was brought to our attention that the school was facing the same danger of collapse the church suffered.  Again, we went to engineers to give us some hope.  Unfortunately, we were told, there is no cure and that we only have a few years to vacate the building before it becomes unsafe to occupy.

So, this is where we are today.  We have searched for a building that would be of sufficient size to accommodate our church and school and haven't come up with any success. We have now turned to the idea of finding some (stable) land and building from scratch. We currently have a 90,000 sq ft facility in our vision.  Knowing that the cost will be enormous, we have considered many facets, among these, the larger size would serve a much larger part of our community.  Classrooms to support K through High School; a full-size gymnasium that could be rented out to sporting events among the community; a large, dedicated sanctuary for services for our congregation; chapel services for our school body, and for music and cultural events for the community in general.  This is a major undertaking, and it is going to take a miracle to make it happen.  But our God is in the business of performing miracles and we believe He will, with your help, make this happen.  So, we ask you, will you please participate in this modern-day miracle and provide your generous donation?  This next year is going to be such an exciting journey, and we would love to see you join us in this endeavor.  We hope God touches each and every one of your hearts and brings you on this journey with us. Thank you for listening to our story and we hope and pray that you will find it to be a blessing to your hearts.  No matter what your decision is, we covet your prayers, and we pray that you are blessed in your daily lives.