Last to be highlighted in The Daily Herald’s spotlight on area churches is Greater Grace Fellowship and Northwood Baptist Chapel.
The pastor of Greater Grace Fellowship is currently Will Jones. Services are held at the Tyrone Social Center on Sundays at 10 a.m.
Greater Grace Fellowship began in Tyrone in September, 1995. The mission statement is “Preaching victory in Jesus through the Word of faith.”
Special Christmas events include a scheduled Candle Light Service at 6 p.m. on December 24.
For more information, contact 742-7990.
Currently, Tim Tangen is the pastor of Northwood Baptist Chapel. Other church positions include the board of deacons and trustees, Sunday School superintendent, treasurer, financial secretary and church clerk. Various committees also serve.
Deacons are Greg Hildebrand, Randy Irvin and Tim Yaudes; trustees are James Barry, Byron Faust and Danny Kyper; treasurers are James and Judy Barry; financial secretary is Louise Faust and Sunday School superintendent is Rod Harper.
Prior to 1949, Jack Kochera observed a strange thing in his travels from town to town. Although many churches were located where there were no houses, Northwood had approximately 100 houses and many children, but no churches. A group of Christians prayed with him that God would help them find a suitable place to hold Sunday School classes in Northwood.
In February 1949, the group moved from the garage to a church which they rebuilt from a vacated church in Bellwood. The lot on Hancock and Stewart Streets was bought for $250, and the Bellwood Church was purchased for $300.
In December 1957, Pastor Wayne Walker became the first full-time minister, and his wife Phyllis helped in the many church programs that he initiated. They had four daughters: Judy, Ruthie, Linda and Debbie. Pastor Walker led the congregation for 22 years. In that time, he incorporated the Chapel as a church, adopted a constitution and bylaws, and started a giving ministry to missionaries. It is interesting to note that four of the original missionaries who were supported at that time are still on our 2004 giving: Cecil Neese, Bruce Porterfield, Stanley Pries, and Jake Toews, and we have added seven others.
The Annual Missionary Conference was started in 1958, and Phyllis helped start the first Ladies Missionary Fellowship February 1969. In October 1971, Phyllis started the first Missionary Fair in which the ladies prepared rooms to resemble countries of the world. In August 1979 Pastor Walker resigned to accept the position of assistant pastor in Philipsburg’s New Life Center.
In August 1979, Pastor John Rabenstein and his wife Lois were welcomed to Northwood Baptist Chapel as interim pastor; but on February 10, 1980, he was installed as full-time pastor. Pastor Rabenstein had two grown sons: John and Ken. During pastorate, most of the property on 402 Hancock Street was given to the church in memory of Mrs. Charles McKendrick. The members voted to build a new church on that property; and on May 23, 1982, a dedication service was held in the new building. Pastor Rabenstein announced his Carlisle retirement plans in August 1982, but stayed on to the end of the year to help until the had a new pastor.
On January 2, 1983, Pastor Larry Burkholder and his wife Sandy were chosen as the Chapel’s third full-time minister. They had two daughters: Angela and Amy. They had spent six and a half years with the Faith Mountain Mission Kentucky prior to coming to Tyrone, and had served pastorates in Indiana, Virginia and Vandergrift, PA. Pastor Burkholder left the church in January 1986 to continue his ministry elsewhere.
Pastor John Truax and his wife Mary began their ministry on November 2, 1986 and continued until their retirement on December 26, 1993. The Truax family had nine grown children, but one of them, Jackie, helped with their ministry- especially in the music and youth work. Pastor Truax helped the church celebrate the burning of their $140,000 mortgage in June 1991 and was instrumental in the church becoming involved with the PA Association of Regular Baptist Churches in March 1991. He also led the way in having a $19,000 parking lot paid for and installed in 1993.
Dr. David Coleman and his wife Kelly began serving in the pastorate on August 21, 1994. They had three children: Nathan, Kara and Christian. Under his ministry, the Word of Life format was begun, a new adult Sunday School class was added, and teacher training classed were held. Kelly helped in the music program and by teaching Sunday School, junior church, Olympians and VBS.
The Ladies Missionary Fellowship worked with him and the Board to fund much needed repairs, painting and carpeting in the Activity Center. In 1997, the Center was insulated and new windows were installed. A French drain system was installed in 1998. The Activity Center is used throughout the week for such things as youth meetings, church dinners, men’s breakfasts and the ladies prayer breakfast. Pastor Coleman helped bring this ministry into being. After helping Northwood Baptist Chapel celebrated its 50th Anniversary. Pastor Coleman resigned as of August 29, 1999.
Pastor Roy Hunter and his wife Joanne filled in while Pastor Truax recovered from bypass surgery in 1992; served as interim pastor for eight months in 1994 and again as interim pastor from September 1999 to August 2000. The church welcomed and appreciated their ministry.
Pastor Timothy N. Tangen became pastor on August 20, 2000. His wife Holly and children Ivy (1993), Alivia (1995) and Eliza (1998) are a blessing to all, but especially to the young married couples. Pastor Tangen was born in 1973 in Cobleskill, NY, and attended Practical Bible College where he met his wife. He was a BA in Biblical Studies from Piedmont Baptist College, and earned his Masters of Divinity at Liberty University, Virginia.
During Pastor Tangen’s ministry, the Chapel installed a handicapped accessible chair lift from the auditorium to the entrance and down to the basement rest rooms and Sunday School rooms. The Activity Center’s roof has been repaired, and Major Tom Arnold and Pastor Tangen installed a web site www.northwoodbaptistchapel.org.Mrs. Tangen is gifted in music and provides seasonal decorations for the Chapel, and also is a youth teacher.
“Northwood Baptist Chapel exists to exalt God through loving worship, to edify Christians through Biblical teaching, to evangelize through faithful witness, and to exhibit godliness through a positive presence in our community,” said Pastor Tangen.
Sunday School is 9:30 a.m. Morning worship is 10:45 a.m. Evening praise is 6 p.m. Wednesday prayer meeting is held at 5:45 p.m. Awana Youth is at 6:30 p.m. Every other Tuesday is Colonial Courtyard Ministry at 1:30 p.m. Ladies Missionary is the fourth Tuesday of every month at 1 p.m. The third Saturday of every month is Ladies Prayer Breakfast at 9 a.m., and men’s breakfast is once a month at 8 a.m., the second Saturday of the month.
Awana Clubs from September through May 11 is for Cubbies for preschoolers, Sparks for grades kindergarten through second graders and Truth and Training Clubs for grades three to six on Wednesdays from 6:30 – 8 p.m.
The church web site is northwoodbaptistchapel.org. The email address is nwoodbaptist@pennswoods.net. The mailing address is 402 Hancock Street. For more information, contact 684-3958.
