Our Mission/Vision Our Beliefs Our History Our Location Our Ministries | | Our Invitation
Our church opens wide its doors and in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, extends a warm welcome for all to attend. We invite you to experience peace with God, pardon from sin, and purpose for living through Jesus Christ. Come and share with us in warm worship, genuine fellowship, Bible centered education, and meaningful service for Christ.
Our Message
Our message is Christ centered and Bible based. We believe that the Bible is the Word of God and therefore the authority for what we believe and do as Christians. Its principles apply to life situations today. We believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the Saviour of all who personally put their trust in Him. We are evangelical and Wesleyan in belief and conservative in lifestyle.
Our Vision
The vision of the Avon Wesleyan Church is to be a zealous, growing congregation which is reaching our generation for Christ and the church by fulfilling each of the Biblical mandates of worship, evangelism, fellowship, discipling, and service, in order to develop saved, Spirit filled individuals, who are maturing disciples of Christ, worshipping God in Spirit and in truth, living lives of moral integrity, evangelizing, and serving Christ in the church and the world.
Our History
The roots of the Avon Wesleyan Church were planted when Mary Magee moved to Avon and began having cottage prayer meetings in her home and the homes of other ladies. Records of these meetings going back to 1930 indicate many spiritual decisions and blessings. Sunday services were eventually held in the home of Minnie Slottman, in a rented hall on Genesee St and a room in the Livingston Hotel. The group was known as the Avon Prayer Band. In 1938, a wood building was purchased at 70 West Main St and became known as The People’s Tabernacle. In 1938 Rev. Matthews, a Nazarene pastor, served as pastor of the church for one year.
The Rev. Bertha Ketch, a Wesleyan Methodist pastor, came to Avon in 1941 and provided pastoral leadership until 1950. On July 19, 1944 the church became officially organized as the Wesleyan Methodist Church with four charter members who were: Mary Magee, Alex Watson, Elida Jaggard and Marion Clements. The Rev Philip J. Birchall served as pastor from 1950 to 1953 and Rev. Charles Messick from 1953 to 1958.
In 1958, Rev. Stanley Lawrence became the pastor and served until 1965. As the church continued to grow Rev. Lawrence had a vision to build a church on the corner of Genesee Street and Pine View Heights. This vision drastically changed the future ministry of the church. The lot was purchased and a two story building with sanctuary, fellowship hall, and Christian education space was constructed for under $62,000.
The Rev. Roy Straub became the pastor in 1965. The unfinished areas of the church building were completed and the building was dedicated in 1967. By April 1968, a new parsonage was constructed at 7 Pineview Heights. Because of a denominational merger in 1968, the name of the church was changed from the Avon Wesleyan Methodist Church to the Avon Wesleyan Church. In 1976 the second phase of the building was dedicated. This phase included turning the sanctuary around 180 degrees and constructing fellowship, kitchen and restroom space in the basement, and foyer, nursery, office, restroom and prayer room space on the main floor. The original basement was turned into classrooms.
From 1980 to 1985 Rev. Edwin Roloson served as pastor of the church. Outreach brought in many new people and for a brief time services were held for the Spanish speaking community.
The Rev. Gerald Wright, Jr. served as pastor from 1985 until 2004. In 1992, the second floor of the church, which had been a storage area, was developed to provide 2,000 square feet of classrooms for effective ministries to teens, children, and adults. It was dedicated on September 27, 1992.
From 2004 to 2006, Rev. Bradley Strange pastored our church. During that time our church body grew and we went to 2 worship service times on Sunday morning to accomondate the growth.
In July 2006, Rev. Daniel Jones became our senior pastor. We are excited about the future of our church. People are growing spiritually and our church body is growing. We look forward to what God has ahead for our church and the people of our community. |
