The Story of First Church is
a story of the Heart
The people who started First Church of God knew that a church is much more than a building. With their hearts, three young couples saw a church that would glorify God as they began meeting for prayer in their homes each week in 1930. At first, God’s dream led them to begin meeting on Sundays in a little rented place on East Superior Street.
As they continued to seek to be what God wanted them to be, they grew out of that first location and moved to a larger building on East North Street.
In 1940, they called their first full-time pastor and continued to grow. In spite of the
hardships of World War II, they were able to build a new building in 1942 on East Mulberry St. The new location enabled the church to continue to move ahead.
By the 1960s, they began to see that there were some problems with that building. Because it was in the middle of a block of homes, it offered no off-street parking. The sanctuary, which at one time seemed spacious, had become crowded. Still seeing God’s church with their hearts, they built a beautiful building on four acres on West Sycamore Street.
Even after major additions and renovations, the steady growth of our church and the expansion of new ministries led us to make plans for the future. We again sought God’s direction, and He has allowed us to see with our hearts a flexible church facility on a property large enough to accommodate growth. Five years ago, God led us to buy twenty acres on State Road 26 and to plan a new building. This property and all that is built upon it will serve as a tool we can use to continue becoming the church God wants us to be.
