About the Church of God
The Church of God does not follow any particular creed or formalized doctrine, however, the church celebrates three ordinances - Baptism, Feet Washing, and the Lord's Supper. Theology generally follows the teachings of Jacob Arminius rather than that of John Calvin. We have adopted a set of beliefs common to the member churches (see What We Believe).
Center Bethel is a member of the Allegheny Conference of the Churches of God, main office in Latrobe, Pa. and the Churches of God General Conference, main office and seminary located at Findlay, Ohio. We have established cross-cultural ministries in Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Europe, Brazil, Haiti, and Southwest USA (Native American).
History of Center Bethel
A minister, John Winebrenner, of the German Reformed Church, organized the Church of God in 1825 at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Winebrenner was troubled by the rigid formality of the German Reformed Church and his subsequent informal Services finally resulted in separation. The heart of Winebrenner's beliefs centered on the Bible rather than a formal catechism. Emphasis was on man being justified by individual faith in Jesus, rather than by works of church law or by works of man's own righteousness. He believed in the free moral agency of man; that man has the free choice to believe in God and in Jesus as Christ and Lord. The first congregation formed at Alverton (then Stonerville) in the year 1839.
As traveling evangelists from the Churches of God toured the area, they held services at the local Mennonite Church. Many of the people at the services were young German folks desiring a more modern worship service in English rather than the traditional German language and so found the style and message of the evangelists appealing. The Alverton church was one of three new congregations established between Scottdale and Ruffs Dale. Later the three churches merged into a single central location at Alverton (Center Bethel). Since that time there are approximately 50 separate congregations in the Western Pennsylvania area.
In 1863 when the new congregations merged, they constructed a building in Alverton that is now the first portion of the present church building. Several additions to this structure have been made over the years, with the most recent being the addition of a large fellowship hall in 1984.
Copyright 2020 Center Bethel Church of God. All rights reserved
“...The congregation of this church was organized in 1841, in which year was erected in Bethany a frame church edifice, now used as a cooper’s shop. Its first pastor was Rev. Joseph A. Dobson. In 1863 the congregation abandoned the old meeting-house in Bethany and erected a commodious brick church in Stonersville. (Alverton) Here its first pastor in the new edifice was Rev. Jacob A. Dohmer…”
“…The congregation is very large and flourishing, with an excellent Sunday-school. The first two pastors at the old meeting-house in Bethany were John and Thomas H. Hickernell...”
--excerpt from History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania : With Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men. / Edited by George Dallas Albert. 1882. Philadelphia : L.H. Everts & Co., 1882. pg. 764 https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009809791
Pastors of Center Bethel:
Jacob M. Domer 1860 - 1868
Peter Loucks 1868 - 1870
John Hickernell 1870 - 1871
Peter Loucks 1871 - 1873
W. B. Long 1873 - 1874
Joseph Grimm 1874 - 1877
B. F. Bolton 1877 - 1880
Robert L. Byrnes 1880 - 1886
W. R. Covert 1886 - 1890
W. H. McKlveen 1890 - 1892
Robert L. Byrnes 1892 - 1898
W. J. Umstead 1898 - 1906
William H. Guyer 1906 - 1912
H. R. Lobb 1912 - 1918
Anna Edwards (Hoverter) 1918 - 1930
Eugene K. Eakin 1930 - 1934
Arthur E. Eakin 1934 - 1943
Harold S. Kinard 1943 - 1948
Lester P. Thornton 1948 - 1952
J. Arnold Berg 1952 - 1956
John L. Woods 1956 - 1959
William D. Rodahaver 1959 - 1979
Richard W. Daniels 1980 - 1981
J. ArnoId Berg 1981 - 1983
Fred J. Landolt 1983 - 1988
J. Arnold Berg 1988 - 1988
Robert W. Douglas 1989 - 1992
Wendell S. Grimm (Interim Pastor, 5 months) 1993 - 1993
Robert Allison 1993 - 1997
Johnny Pennington 1997 - 2000
WendeII S. Grimm 2000 - 2002
Lee D. Kline 2003 - 2008
Donald R. Engelhardt 2009 - 2011
Frederick L. Bauer (Interim Pastor) 2011 - 2012
Lee D. Kline 2012 -Current