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THE CHURCH AT PHILADELPHIA
Church at Philadelphia’s legacy began November 1, 1981 with the separation from the Gethsemane Baptist Church.
One-Hundred and forty-three members followed Pastor Gregory W. Spencer as he followed Christ to form a new fellowship. A Council instituted of neighboring Pastors and members were contacted. Pastor Julius Jackson of Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church and Pastor Joe Foster of Greater Friendship Baptist Church met at 5808 Curzon, the Love and Care Funeral Cottage, to discuss organization of a new church. The eight charter members, who were interested in the establishment, were all former members of Gethsemane: BRo. Gregory W. Spencer, Bro, Jessie B. Franklin, Bro. Howard Lusk, Bro. R.B. Russell, and Sis. Sarah Leonard, Sis. Lottie Jackson, Sis Frances Moore, and Sis. Pearl Miller. After due deliberation and prayers, the council was convinced of a need for a new fellowship. It was agreed, the name of the new fellowship would be Philadelphia Missionary Baptist Church. The name Philadelphia was revealed to Pastor Spencer through the Holy Spirit. Revelations 3:7 speaks about the Church of Philadelphia in Asia Minor. (The Church of Brotherly Love) On Sunday, Nov. 8, 1981, the first service was held at 2:00pm at Greater Friendship on Wenneca Ave. The following Sunday, we were blessed to worship at the YMCA on East Berry. May 30, 1982 the Lord blessed us with a larger place to worship and a service was held at 1900 E. Rosedale. In March 1984, the Spirit of the Lord led Pastor Spencer to a site of property on Wichita St. The property at that time was for sale at $84,000. Because Pastor was not led to buy the two-acre site for that amount, he waited for God to deal with the heart of the owner. Prayers were answered and the property was purchased in June for $28,000.
In October 1984, the construction of the new worship facility began as a faith effort. Construction efforts had come to a complete halt in the early 1985. The proprietor of the building at 1900 E. Rosedale became troubled when we did not want to buy the property after 5 years of rental.
The church relocated, which only added to the unrest of the people. Services were held at the Rising Star Baptist Church for about two months and then we relocated again to a small building at 4132 Miller Ave. The name of the church was then changed to The Church at Philadelphia and incorporated in December 1987. The prayers of Pastor Spencer and our congregation were answered. In late 1989, Minister Lonnie Goodspeed and Goodspeed Construction were once again working on the facility.
The Philadelphia family not only continued to pray and financially supported the building effort. We became relief workers, pitching in when needed; serving food, hanging wallpaper, and sweeping, mopping and standing guard at night. Easter Sunday morning April 15, 1990, marked the entrance service and ribbon cutting ceremony for our new worship facility. The Easter morning processional began at the first Philadelphia worship location and continued as we stopped by each worship location, until we ended at the home of the Philadelphia family.
In 1993, Philadelphia’s enrollment was sky rocketing. The Word was continuing go forth and God’s people were yet still hungry for more teaching. The need for classroom spacing was growing. The Visionary of the House, Pastor Spencer knew it was time to seek God in yet another building project. Once again, our own Minister Goodspeed and Goodspeed Construction were ready for the task. Construction began February 1994 on the two-story building that would contain fifteen class rooms, office space, six bathrooms, a kitchen and a fellowship hall. In November 1994, the dedication service for The Christ Center was held. The Church at Philadelphia Ministry was equipped to meet the needs of the 200+core members. Sinners were been saved, saints renewed, sick healed and demonic delivered. Our founder, Pastor Gregory W. Spencer continued with us until the time, when the Lord called him from labor to reward on June 24, 2003. The church was in mourning for months. The congregation was wandering and lost without a shepherd. At that time, we followed the leadership of the Deacons and other church Leaders.
In August 2003, Reverend Charles Johnson accepted the position as Pastor. His short tenure ended in May 2004. In July 2004, Minister Lonnie Goodspeed and Minister Gary Johnson were ordained and voted in as Interim Pastors. Minister Goodspeed served faithfully until the Lord called him home to Glory in September 2004. Our legacy continued under the leadership of Interim Pastor Gary Johnson.
In July 2006, the Pastoral Search Committee recommended to the Board to fill the Senior Pastor’s position with the person of Rev. Ontario Jones. The congregation was in agreement. Rev. Ontario Jones, a native of Fort Worth, Texas accepted the position on July 16, 2006 as Senior Pastor. Pastor Jones gave a prophetic announcement that “Even The Roof Can’t Stop Us Now” which birthed several ministries and revived others that helped equip, edify, and encourage the masses at large. Pastor Jones, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit led The Church at Philadelphia to new dimensions growing spiritually and numerically as the Lord saw fit, ministering to 250+ disciples weekly and as a body of believers the church had “Embraced Transition”.
During his fifteen year tenure the need for a larger sanctuary was apparent. Through Pastor Jones’ leadership an expansion began to add over 100 additional seats to the sanctuary and to add a beautiful Foyer to the front of the building which also included 2 restrooms and a comfort room. Decoration of the foyer was graciously donated by Sis. Laverne Green. Construction began in Nov 2016 with the groundbreaking ceremony and the ribbon cutting for entry occurring in November 2018. The congregation continued to be blessed of God and blessed by God to be able to pay off the loan a few months ahead of time in Aug 2021, as we prepared to celebrate 40 years of ministry in November 2021.
Pastor Jones was released in August 2021 and the Church embraced yet another transition. After a 90 day pastoral search, God sent Pastor Brandon D. Walker to continue the rich heritage and press forward to carry out the Church’s mission and vision statement. Pastor Walker served about 18 months from December 2021 until May 14, 2023.
CHURCH HISTORY
