History

On March 16, 1963, the Rev. Dr. Alan Walker, minister in the Methodist Church, Sydney, Australia founded Life Line. This was a unique program that was designed to train volunteers to be available by telephone to callers 24 hours a day. Two years later, Rev. John Brand, a minister in Dallas, Texas began to take the initiative on beginning such a program in the United States.

With permission from his bishop, Rev. Brand was chosen to lead the new initiative and to use his church as the location for the first center. Since the name of Life Line was being used in Texas by a nationally broadcast radio program, CONTACT was chosen as the name of this new ministry.

In the autumn of 1966, a class of 150 persons began their six month training as telephone helpline volunteers. On March 27, 1967, CONTACT Dallas, Texas became the first center in the United States.

On March 1st, 1968 in Nashville, TN the Council for Telephone Ministries was formed to develop CONTACT centers throughout the US. By the time this meeting commenced, 31 communities had already expressed interest in establishing a center in their community.

During the next three years, under the leadership of Rev. Ross Whetstone and the support of the United Methodist Church through a budget of $250,000, 36 communities began the process of starting a center. In November of 1969, Life Line International held its 2nd tri-annual convention in Chicago, IL. In addition to Dallas, 5 other centers were now in operation: High Point and Charlotte in NC; Little Rock, AK; Chattanooga, TN and Newport News, VA.

On April 15, 1971, CONTACT Teleministries USA was incorporated in Tennessee to promote the development of CONTACT. A day later, the 1st national conference of CONTACT was held in Newport News, VA. The Rev. Robert Larson established the first national office in Harrisburg, PA, were it remains today. There were 18 centers by this time.

In October, 1985, the name of the national organization was changed to its current form: CONTACT USA, Inc. Today CONTACT USA has expanded to over 40 centers in 20 states, with 10,000 volunteers responding annually to over 1.2 million callers per year. As the only national network of telephone helpline centers in the United States, CONTACT USA is committed to a vision of reaching all who seek someone to listen, someone who cares.