History of MAC
This record is as given to me by Pastor Billings and is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate,
but it is probably as close as it’s going to get.
The Beginning - 1945
The
Middletown Alliance Church was started
in 1945 by evangelist
Tom Ritchey. He and his wife played a great assortment of musical instruments,
including whiskey bottles that were filled with water to tune to the proper pitch. Out of intrigue,
many people began to come to services and attendance quickly reached as high as 200. However,
most of these people were from other churches and were not new conversions.
During this time,
the church met in the high school auditorium for services. Tom Ritchey pastored the church for roughly
two years before his son-in-law, Patrick Patterson took over as pastor and served for one year.
Then Rev. Henry Roe took over as pastor and orchestrated the purchasing of an old church on North Street.
The building had been vacated during World War II and temporarily used as a skating rink.
One distinguishing feature of this church was that it was built in the shape of a cross with the
seating being in the vertical member and the stage being the cross-member. However, there were no
seats in the church because they had been removed for the skating rink. Then in 1950, a local theater
closed and donated all of its seating to the church. In 1949, Joseph Nickelson became pastor of the church.
In 1952, Robert Hedger came to pastor MAC.
Troubled Times - 1957
Rev. Nelson Cook came to Middletown in November 1955. In March 1957 he
began to pastor the
Middletown Alliance Church and continued to do so until 1958 when the district decided to shut down the church
because it could not pay a pastor. However, Cook argued that
since this was the only C&MA church in Orange County, the district could not afford to lose it. Pastor Cook then
decided to take a job at a local factory so that the congregation would not have to pay him.
Rebirth - 1965
In 1965, the church decided to purchase a parsonage for Rev. Cook and his family. However,
the heating system in it did not work well and the winter was very cold. The next year, Rev. Cook did
the handyman work and hired out the trade work to get the parsonage back to full working order. In 1968,
Cook asked the church to start saving up a fund of $2,500 and he would become their pastor full time for a
payment of $75 per week. The following year, he was staffed full time as pastor.
New Growth - 1977
In 1977, to promote growth,
MAC decided to sell their existing church building for $33,000 and buy new property. A lot on
County Route 78 was purchased from the Mt. Carmel Society, a Catholic organization. At the time, the area was just a large
wooded lot and few people lived near it. However, they felt that God was saying that this was where He wanted the church built
because one day it would be a populated area. Even though the church owned the land, it took them nine years to
start construction of a new building. During this time, the congregation met in a variety of places.
Then, in 1985, the new Middletown Alliance Church building was dedicated* to be used by God but there still was no occupancy permit since it was only
walls and a roof. So, the church people began doing all the work they could on the building while trade work was hired
out. Interestingly, the stained glass windows in the church were made by someone in the church at that time. Finally, in
the early 1990's occupancy was permitted and the church began to have official services in the new building. In 1991,
Rev. Jay Bellamy, a missionary candidate, pastored the church until leaving to become an
Alliance missionary. Jay focused on reaching out to the community. One way he did that was by becoming a fire chaplain.
In 1995, Pastor Gary Rankin came to pastor. Gary brought with him a shepherd's
heart and was well loved by the congregation. He continued being the full time pastor until 20 June, 2004 when he
had an accident which did not allow him to continue as pastor. Rev. Cook and the elders stepped up to fill in until
Pastor Gary was able to recover. However, he did not fully recover so the district assigned a new pastor in 2006.
Rev. Jason Spray led the church during that time by providing new direction, as well
as updating equipment and church facilities.
The Present
Starting July 2008,
Rev. David Nathaniel Billings took over as Lead Pastor. Under his leadership the church
has further developed in the areas of strategic planning, leadership development, small groups, outreach,
worship, and Christian Education. During the last few months
MAC's building has received a complete makeover
from carpet, painting, and wallpapering, to remodeling the kitchen. In the midst of all of this work,
servant evangelism projects and outreach events have continued to develop a presence in the community.
Starting September 12th 2010, two Sunday services as well as a Saturday night service will begin as a way of
providing space for the continued growth. The church is also in the planning stage for a C.E. building along with
a multi-purpose building to provide more space for current growth, as well as preparing for future growth.
The people of Middletown Alliance Church are thankful for God's faithfulness, and His leading, as they
continue to be disciples, who make disciples. As we join God in His plans, He gets the glory and we get
the privilege of joining Him in His work here in the greater Middletown area.
As the old song goes,
"To God be the glory, great things He hath done, So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,
Who yielded His life our an atonement for sin, And opened the life-gate that all may go in.
Great things He hath taught us, great things He hath done, And great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son;
But purer, and higher, and greater will be Our wonder, our transport when Jesus we see.
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Let the earth hear His voice.
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Let the people rejoice;
Oh, come to the Father, through Jesus the Son, And give Him the glory; great things He hath done!"
Please check out our Picture History of MAC Slide Show
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* At the dedication ceremony, the District Superintendent stated that Rev. Cook held the record for the longest to pastor a church without a specific meeting location.