Growth (continued)

Agape Ministries was formed in the early 1970’s by two laymen in the church, to record and distribute audio tapes. The ministry was turned over to the church and Brother Peter gave Agape the rights to the 959 and 2959 Plans that he had formulated. This became the media ministry for the church.

In 1980 George Donaldson donated the old Whispering Hills Country Club to the church. In 1981 we added a new office complex to the existing Sanctuary and remodeled the old Whispering Hills Country Club into a youth center which was given the name ‘’Ashkelon’’ by our youth minister, Robbie Goss. The name Ashkelon is from an Old Testament city which was turned into a city of refuge, where God visited the people and turned away their captivity [Zeph. 2:4].

The church revised the membership requirements to establish a ‘’Covenant Membership’’ which required members to enter into a covenant relationship with one another indicated by the signing of a ‘’Covenant Card.’’ Also the requirement was added to require candidates to complete the ‘’New Members and Inquirers Class’’ prior to being accepted as a member.

Park Avenue Baptist Church leadership also believed we needed to have advice from other Christian leaders outside our local body, so we established a relationship with Jack Taylor and Alan Vincent and called them Apostles to our church. They had no governmental role, but provided counsel and advice to the church and provided a larger view of God’s work in the world.

The church developed strong missions programs with a goal to develop native churches in several countries. Some of these were in Mexico, several in South America, and the Philippines. Local mission efforts are ongoing.

Park Avenue was one of the first churches in this locale to establish a Saturday night worship service. Many new ministries were begun, an example being the Auto Maintenance for single parents and the elderly.

An Education Building was built in 1991 at a cost of approximately $1,000,000.00. It was built for cash. This building enabled our school to grow and also provides space for Bible classes for children and adults.

In 1996, Brother Peter Lord retired as pastor. He had been the only pastor since the establishment of Park Avenue Baptist Church and pastored many of the people for over 30 years. Brother Peter is an author and active conference speaker and is still associated with our church. His main theme has been to help people develop a vital personal relationship with God. He has encouraged people to develop a “Quiet Time” whereby they learn to fellowship with God and to hear His voice.

Park Avenue Baptist Church functioned under the leadership of the Elders for a two-year period while our Pulpit Committee, named ‘’The Hearing Committee’’ sought God for a candidate for our next pastor. Eldon Raley, one of the founding members of Park Avenue Baptist Church and an Elder, served as Interim Pastor for the last year of that search. He was also Chairmen of ‘’The Hearing Committee.’’

New Leadership

In May 1998, two years after Pastor Peter Lord retired, the church voted to call Dr. Marty Schafer as our pastor. He became the second pastor in Park Avenue Baptist Church history. He served until August 2000. The third pastor, Richard Lord, eldest son of Peter Lord, became pastor in November 2000.