This family atmosphere is not something that just happens -- a congregation must plan and work for it. To have an idea of how this came about, we need to take a look at the history of this congregation at UPCC. Go back in time to 1874. It is after the Civil War. Rev. Andrew Nathaniel Page moved his family from Woodford County, Illinois to Champaign so his children could get an education Although Page had been raised a Quaker, he converted when he married and became a Disciples minister.

He had studied the writings of Alexander Campbell and Barton Stone and liked the simplicity and reasonableness of the restoration movement. He had little formal education but he was an organizer. He studied the Bible diligently and was a forceful preacher. He bought two houses in the 300 block of South Wright, about a block north of the present church building. The two houses were converted into rooming houses -- one for men and one for women. A dining room was built between the two buildings connecting them. It was "Student House." Across the street was Illinois Industrial University (now the University of Illinois) that opened in March of 1867.

Directly across from the rooming house was Main Hall, the main building of the school. The only other rooming house in the area was on the southeast corner of Wright and Springfield. It was owned by the White family and it was called the White House. The University Drill Hall was located just south of the rooming house on Springfield. The new University Hall was being built on the site of the present Illini Union. There were about 330 students enrolled in school. A mule-drawn streetcar connected Champaign and Urbana, which were about 3 miles apart. There were pastures and fields between the two cities and the campus had a fence around it to keep out the grazing animals. Rev. Page was often criticized for bringing his family to that "godless university in the swamp." He soon began a Sunday school and a communion service in the dining hall. There were no churches near campus and no Christian Church in either town. Very few members of the Christian Church were in the area and they hadn't shown any interest in starting a church. However, Page was not discouraged. He had a dream of starting a church for his family and other Christians. So finally in the spring of 1883, in the dining hall of Rev. Page's "Student House", the Christian Church of Champaign-Urbana was formed with 14 charter members.