Where We Come From
Our church began with a group of dedicated Christians who had a burden to see Christ preached in their local neighborhood. With much prayer and in the power of the Spirit, they started a Sunday School program for the children in the community. Their burden led them not just to start a Sunday School program and wait for people to show up, but to drive out into the community and pick up children every week so they could attend. They were not willing to just say "you come to us," but they actively went out into the community. The group moved in faith and was rewarded by seeing children start lifelong relationships with Jesus.
Knowing that they would need a meeting area to suit the growing number of people that were being reached, the group began to pray. God provided with what was affectionally called "the hotdog stand" and the ministry continued to bless the area for two more years until the small group decided that a resident pastor was needed. In 1934, Miss Eva Norris asked Rev. John Gormer of the Christian and Missionary Alliance of Baltimore to hold services for the group, but due to other personal obligations he could not come on full time.
Moving into the future, God provided the churches first resident pastor, Rev. Pennington. Under his leadership the church was named the Bloomfield Alliance Church. (Because it was in the Bloomfield area) The group continued to serve their community through the Sunday School ministry and hosted many missionaries as they came home from the field to rest and build support.
Jumping into the future, we find Rev. Walker who began his ministry at what was then called Lansdowne Alliance Church in 1969. He was most known for the visiting schedule he kept. It has been said that he would pack a lunch in the morning before he left home and visit with people in the community all day. If you are to walk around the community today you will find people who still remember Pastor Walker's visits in the 70's. He carried the church's burden for the community further into the future and left a lasting legacy at Lansdowne Alliance Church.
Rev. John Bowers, the pastor before our current pastor, is most notably remembered for his ministry to children with Vacation Bible School programs. Year after year the program seemed to get larger and larger with nearly 90 children coming to the program at its height. The program was a great way to reach children for Jesus in a way that they could easily understand and was also a great way to reach out to parents. There are presently families in the church who came to the Lord through these programs.
After Rev. Bowers received a call to begin ministering to a church in Florida the church prayed that God would send someone to Lansdowne Alliance who would continue in its long history of reaching the surrounding community. The method of reaching the community may change over the years, but the burden that Lansdowne Alliance Church feels to reach that community has never changed. May God bless Lansdowne Alliance Church as it moves into its next 80 years.