Wheatland Church of Christ, also known as the Cross Church, is the oldest Disciples of Christ church built mainly for and by blacks in western Michigan. Thomas Cross (1826-1897), who with five other members founded the church in 1870, was its first elder. Early services were held in the Gingrich and Cross schoolhouses. When the congregation decided to build a church in 1883, Cross donated the land and loaned it. the funds. In 1968 the Church became an independent nondenominational organization.