In approximately 1918, a church was started in the small town of Ronceverte named the First Church of God.

The church started in a small building in the west end of Ronceverte and eventually moved to its present location at 410 Ronceverte Avenue. Its main headquarters are in Anderson, Indiana.

Throughout the years, this church was a strong force in the community and was the center of the lives of many families, such as the Fink Family, the Hodges Family, the O’Brien Family, the Patton Family, the VanBuren Family, and many others. The congregation ranged from 50-75 people on most any given Sunday and often times had 100 or more people in attendance for Christmas and Easter. We had tremendous youth groups, Vacation Bible Schools, Christmas plays/programs, dedicated women’s groups, and many other programs. We have had some tremendous pastors including George Robinson, Arthur Velosky, Robert Ellis, and Virginia Pitsenbarger just to name a few.

In recent years, our church has experienced a major, rapid decline in membership. The Church of God does not have a “membership” per se.’ We are not a denomination. Our mission statement says “Salvation makes you a member. People make you welcome.” Our doors are open to anyone who loves and wants to serve God. We are currently without a pastor, so services are only being held on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings. We have Sunday School at 10 a.m. (adult class only at this time), morning worship at 11 a.m., and Wednesday night prayer/video/study services at 7 p.m. We have pastors from Princeton and Frankford in the pulpit on Sunday mornings helping out at the present time.

Although our congregation is extremely small at this time, we are waiting upon the Lord to guide us in the direction He has for the future of our church. There is a possibility that the church doors would be closed in the near future if attendance continues to decline. We do not want that to happen. There are many people in the Ronceverte and surrounding areas that do not attend church anywhere. We would like to invite them to join us. There are also many people in the area who attend church elsewhere, and we would ask that those congregations keep us in their prayers as we continue to serve the Lord the best that we can.

For any questions or information regarding our church, services, etc., please call Stewart Beard, chairman of the Board of Trustees, at 304-645-7307 (home) or 304-667-0437.