21-04-2025
Tyrone church hosts Easter service, looks ahead to new facility
TYRONE, Pa. (WTAJ)—On Easter, many churches hold sunrise or early morning services. The Community Worship Center on Bald Eagle Avenue opened its doors in 1996. Almost 30 years later, the church has outgrown its current building and is planning to move to a new location.
'It's been something I've been talking about since 2015. So that's ten years that we've been waiting and believing God, you know, for the next thing,' Keith Deal, Senior Pastor at the church, said.
With its growing membership, the size of the church isn't sustainable.
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'So it holds only about 230 people in the sanctuary. So we got to run multiple services. Our church runs about 500 on a Sunday. But like on Easter Sunday, like today, there were over 700 people who came. So we had two services again, which is just a lot for our little building to hold,' Deal said.
On Sunday, the church put up a tent on their new piece of land to hold the first of many services. It's 20 acres, and only three miles away from their current building.
Patsy DelBaggio has been a member for almost 30 years. He admitted there were times when he thought the church wouldn't find a new place to start building. However, he said they kept believing and praying.
'Sometimes it takes a while to happen. So it, you know, it's very rewarding. And, really builds your faith. Because, you see, God is working and things start happening. We just kept believing in God. And, so, you know, we're very happy,' DelBaggio said.
The blueprints for the new church were unveiled at the end of Sunday's service. It'll be between 17,000 and 18,00 square feet. It will have a dual purpose. The facility will be used for Sunday service in the morning, and the sanctuary will seat about 800 people. Then it will also be used as a gymnasium for the Tyrone Christian Academy.
The goal is to have the new building finished for next year's Easter Service and to be debt-free by 2028.
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