Welcome! We are so glad to have you join with us in celebration of the 50^th Anniversary of the Altoona Bible Church.

We are extremely thankful to our faithful Lord, for His watchful care and blessings “Abundantly above what we asked for or what we thought He could do”. We are indeed awestruck as we review what our Lord has done for the Altoona Bible Church.

50 years ago, Sunday November 18, 1951 was the beginning of the Altoona Bible Church. We met that day as a body of believers at the Howard Avenue Armory. No plush pews, but wooden chairs, borrowed song books, bare floors, but a group of believers, whose hearts were filled with a common purpose: to establish a church, free and independent; to preach the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ – of salvation by faith and faith alone!

As you look around you today, look at the beautiful building that the Lord has given us. For it is by His matchless grace, that we have what we have today! Imagine this auditorium with wooden chairs instead of pews, no carpeting, and only windows along the back wall for ventilation in the summer.

Pastor Henry F. Kulp, came as a young pastor to the 28^th Street Church of the Brethren in 1945. Soon the little church was overflowing at every service. In 1948 our radio broadcast was begun and continues today.

Because of his uncompromising stand on the Gospel, he was served with a court injunction, constraining him from preaching in the pulpit at 28^th Street. Shortly, thereafter, the subsequent court trial took place. On November 14, 1947, when we gathered for prayer meeting, to our surprise, we were greeted by padlocked doors and denied entry into the building. This was America! You couldn’t be locked out of your church. Our hearts were heavy, what would happen to us? But the Lord had plans for us!

We met that Sunday, November 18, 1951 in the Howard Avenue Armory. We never missed a service, the Lord had opened this building for our Sunday services. The vast gym was our auditorium, the locker room our nursery, and a girls Sunday School class was held in the rifle range. God laid it upon the hearts of the Church of the Open Door to allow us to meet there for prayer meeting and choir practice. We continued there from November 21, 1951 until we moved into our new building.

We began to look for a building lot and found one, at Union Avenue and 28^th Street. We were sure this was the perfect spot for our new church. But we were disappointed when that property became unavailable to us. But our Lord knew better and shortly thereafter, the property at Union Avenue and 31^st street became available for the unheard price of $1,500. The property, at that time, was a grown up weed patch. But we soon found out that it had enough room for the building we wanted, plus a large parking lot. You see, the Lord closed the door on the property we wanted, but opened the way for us to have a better property.

Well, we had to have a name for our new church. Shortly thereafter, the name Altoona Bible Church was chosen. A charter was secured. The Lord used Godly men and after many, many long hours of prayer and deliberation, our doctrinal statement and constitution was forged and adopted on March 20, 1952.

Our groundbreaking for the new church took place on a rainy Easter Sunday, April 13, 1952. Our spirits weren’t dampened, instead our hearts were filled with thanksgiving to our Lord. On November 9, 1952 the cornerstone was laid. On January 19, 1953, our building was dedicated and our first Sunday service was held in the new building. Attendance was as follows! Morning service – 1,450 attended, afternoon service – 1,675 attended, evening service – 1,600 attended. The total offering for the day was $6,000.00.

The “wraparound” educational unit was dedicated on April 7, 1968.

In February 1994, our almost completed Henry F. Kulp Memorial building collapsed under the weight of snow – but our Lord was faithful and the new Henry F. Kulp Memorial building was dedicated on November 20, 1994.

How our God has supplied our needs. He has led a faithful congregation in our outreach to spread the glorious Grace Gospel. Our first missionary conference was held April, 1954. Our tape ministry began in 1973. Our radio broadcast has been ongoing since 1948. Youth groups meet every Sunday evening. Our club programs meet every Monday evening. Our Vacation Bible School has been held since 1953. Our telecast has been ongoing since January 1954. Grace Kids Camp has been held since 1995. Our Preschool started September 1990. God has richly blessed these endeavors.

The many facets of our ministry continue to be a beacon of light in this dark world. There isn’t enough room in this booklet to allow us to share the thousands of stories and victories of these programs. The Henry F. Kulp Memorial building has given us opportunities for fellowship and youth programs. Gym Nights, fellowship dinners, UBU outings, Bible Studies, Youth Retreats are just some of our outreaches that the Lord has blessed.

God has blessed us abundantly when it comes to the men of God he has sent to fill this pulpit. He first sent Pastor Kulp from Brooklyn, New York to Altoona, Pennsylvania. A lot of you may not remember Pastor Kulp or have been blessed to sit under him as he expounded the wonderful Grace Gospel. He had a God-given gift, as a Bible expositor and teacher. He never apologized for or compromised his stand on the gospel. He grounded us in the Word. We were greatly saddened and felt a huge loss when he was called home to be with the Lord on December 10, 1981. Pastor Kulp was truly instrumental in bringing so many to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Pastor John Spooner served as our interim pastor. God hadn’t failed us (“For He is God, and cannot fail”) He had brought Pastor Spooner to us in June 1980 as Minister of Youth and Assistant Pastor, and unbeknownst to us was preparing him to take the pulpit upon Pastor Kulp’s home going.

In August 1985, Pastor Jon Bekemeyer became our Senior Pastor. He was a great blessing and the church increased in number and grew spiritually under his ministry.

On June 21, 1992 Pastor Ken Peebles was voted in as Assistant Pastor. He became our interim pastor on June 9, 1996 and subsequently our Senior Pastor or December 15, 1996. Under his leadership, the church has grown and has grown spiritually.

Praise God for his watch care over us. He is so Faithful to us!!! As we look around us – many of the original 500 Charter Members have gone home to be with the Lord. After 50 years our Charter Members now number 76. On our 100^th Anniversary, will “those who came after us, find that we are faithful”.

God will never fail us, for He is God, and cannot fail. We must be ever faithful, serving as bright lights, beacons to a dark world with a message of salvation, through belief on the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work at Calvary, the tomb and resurrection. May we be ever faithful to spread the Grace Gospel to a confused and dying world!