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WHEELING -- Bethlehem Apostolic Temple will celebrate 94 years of ministry in Wheeling this month while also recognizing the 36th anniversary of Bishop Darrell W. Cummings’ leadership of the church.
Anniversary services will begin Sunday at the church, 330 N. Main St., with Bishop Robert Buckner of St. Louis speaking at 10:30 a.m. and Suffragan Bishop Levi Downs of Pittsburgh speaking at 6 p.m.
Additional services are planned Wednesday through Friday, with the anniversary celebration concluding Sept. 27. Suffragan Bishop Jeremiah Thomas of Pittsburgh will speak at 10:30 a.m. that day, followed by Apostle Karen Garland of Pitcairn, Pennsylvania, at 6 p.m.
The public is invited to attend.
“We believe Bethlehem Temple has made a difference in our community!” Cummings said.
The church’s history in Wheeling stretches back to 1932, when a small group formed Bethlehem Temple of Wheeling under the leadership of Elder Fred Lacey of Philadelphia and the direction of Bishop S.N. Hancock.
The congregation’s first home was at 2614 Market St. in the former U.I.N.A. Hall. The building did not have a baptismal pool, so the congregation received permission to dig one.
The church would move several times during its early decades.
After Lacey returned to Philadelphia, Elder Goodson of Detroit became the church’s spiritual leader in 1933. The congregation later purchased a residential property at 2617 Market St. and renovated it for use as a church.
Elder Floyd E. Pitts of Bellaire became pastor in 1937. During his tenure, Bethlehem Apostolic Temple became a member of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World.
Elder Howard Moore of Springfield, Ohio, and Elder Owen Carter of Dayton served as pastors between 1941 and 1949.
Elder George Robinson became pastor in 1949, and the church relocated to 2609 Market St. in the early 1950s. A new church was being constructed there on higher ground, but the property later was acquired as part of an urban renewal program in Center Wheeling, forcing the congregation to move again.
In 1961, the church renovated a building at 60 13th St. At the time, its congregation had dwindled to approximately a dozen members.
Elder J.C. Allen of Dayton accepted the pastorate in 1964. The following year, the church’s name was changed from Bethlehem Temple Church of the Apostolic Faith to Bethlehem Apostolic Temple.
Under Allen’s leadership, the church’s current building at 330 N. Main St. was designed and constructed. The congregation began worshipping there April 20, 1973.
After Allen’s death in 1974, Evangelist Evelyn E. Moyer served two years as acting pastor before being installed as pastor. She remained in the position until retiring in May 1990.
Cummings came to Bethlehem Apostolic Temple on June 15, 1990, after more than a decade as founder and pastor of Greater Love Church in Ashtabula, Ohio.
During his tenure, the church has expanded its ministries through radio, television and internet broadcasts, a mobile app, printed materials, a bus ministry and a food pantry.
The church also has acquired properties in North Wheeling, including the North Wheeling Youth Center and North Wheeling Activity Center. In 2016, it purchased the North Wheeling Community Dream Center, a four-story facility with 35 offices and parking for 100 vehicles.
Buckner, who will speak during Sunday’s opening service, is founder of The Living Word Apostolic Church in St. Louis and executive director of Friend With A Better Plan Community Action Program.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in speech communication from the University of Missouri-St. Louis and a master’s degree in theology from Covenant Theological Seminary.
Buckner has held several leadership positions within the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World. In 2023, he was elevated to diocesan bishop of the Baja California Mexico Council, the organization’s 75th Episcopal District.
For information about Bethlehem Apostolic Temple’s anniversary services, call the church at (304) 233-8899 or (304) 639-8479.