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![]() In the Fall of 1994, Rev. Tom Clark and Mr. Steven Begert received a call from God and affirmation from many supporters to form a new church where unconditional love and justice would be building blocks to a future full of hope. It was the belief then that a church must be formed in which all of God's children would be welcome. Because ALL could come to serve and be served in this new church it would be given the name All Saints Community Church. "Being Jesus to Others" would be this new faith community's motto, purpose and promise. His church is called to build up ALL of God's people to know and believe that they are special, wonderful, and unique. The church must never be responsible for turning away extended family members. An informal meeting was held on October 13, 1994, to determine the level of interest and participation in the incredibly immense and scary endeavor called "founding a church." Thirty-two people attended this meeting. After discussion, prayer, and the singing of hymns, the group that gathered that night proclaimed the birth of All Saints Community Church - the neophyte community would worship for the first time on November 6, 1994. EVERYTHING was donated to us - from chairs to piano and organ, to even our cross, Book of Gospels, and communion table. Services for the first 19 months were held in a rented 1000 square foot classroom at the former Market Street School in downtown Warren. Despite the times of near-heatless winters, frozen toilet water and sweltering summers, we continued to grow and were faced with the challenge of finding a larger home for our faith community. In May, 1996, the community rented a store front space in downtown Cortland. This was a great "leap of faith" since tripling the size of our floor space meant doubling the monthly rent! The community continued to grow in faith and in numbers and in February, 1997, a property search committee was formed to begin the search for our permanent home. The search took on a more urgent nature when, in May, 1998, the rent at the downtown Cortland site was raised dramatically with no promise from the landlord to make needed repairs. The property search committee toured four different sites before arriving at our present location. The "Dome" located at 4530 Niles-Cortland Road in Cortland, Ohio was available for rental and an open-house was held for the community to view the property. It was decided by a congregational vote that our property search had ended - The "Dome would be our Home". In August, 1998, the owner of this building approached the Trustees regarding the purchase of the dome in a lease option to buy. The Board met with the community and it was decided to enter into negotiations with the owner. In October, 1998, the community of All Saints moved into the building and dedicated its new worship space on its 4th anniversary - November 1, 1998. On October 31, 2004, we celebrated our 10th anniversary as a parish community. On December 26, 2004, we celebrated the retirement of our founding pastor and music director, Rev. Tom and Steven Begert-Clark. Rev. Tom has been given the title Pastor Emeritus. In June, 2005, the Pastoral Search Committee presented Rev. Jamie Kaufman of Toledo, OH to become our new pastor. After an open congregation gathering on July 9th and presentation of the message on July 10th, the congregation voted unanimously to call Pastor Jamie as our new Pastor. He accepted the call and was installed on August 7, 2005. On February 27, 2006, Pastor Jamie resigned. In August, 2007, a new Pastoral Search Committee presented Rev. Dr. Rob Henderson of New Bethlehem, PA as pastor candidate for All Saints Community Church. Pastor Rob spoke for the congregation on Sunday September 2. After a social with Rob and his wife Carol on Saturday September 8 and his message on Sunday September 9, the congregation voted overwhelmingly to call Pastor Rob to All Saints. On Sunday January 4, 2009, All Saints Community Church ordained Pastor Doug Sewell into Christian ministry. He is the first of our parishioners to enter the ministry. On Monday February 23, 2009, we received Pastor Rob's resignation. On March 1, 2009, Pastor Doug was named interim pastor, and on Sunday September 27th, the congregation called Pastor Doug to be their next pastor. He was installed on October 25, 2009. Only God knows what our future will hold, but He is an awesome God!
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