“What a weekend,” says Valley Church, Paden City, West Virginia. The church celebrated its 70th anniversary Oct. 11–12 with a Night of Worship and a special worship service.
Throughout the church’s history, God has been “changing lives, strengthening faith, and impacting the Ohio Valley through Valley Church,” the church says. And during the church’s anniversary weekend, “every moment told the same story: He has been so, so good.”
The Night of Worship was a time to remember and celebrate God’s faithfulness to the church. And the worship service, which included baptisms, “looked forward in faith to all God has planned for Valley Church. . . . We sang songs that have carried us through the years, shared stories that reminded us of His goodness, and looked ahead with gratitude and expectation for all that’s still to come.”
“Just because we’re a church doesn’t mean we don’t go through bad times,” says a member of the church in an anniversary video. But even in a time of difficulty amid change and pastoral transition, God has faithfully worked in Valley Church.
“God used that season of difficulty to grow us and to grow the leaders here at the church,” says Pastor Jonathan Mast. “People will always talk about my first message,” he says, referring to the three years he served as interim pastor after serving as the church’s youth pastor. “I guess it was pretty rough.”
That challenging season also became a time when the church revisited its vision and purpose.
Valley Church, Jonathan says, now has a vision to live out the Great Commission by being “a multiplying church”—one that doesn’t just make disciples but also multiplies them. In other words, Valley Church will now “seek, serve, and send disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the [Ohio] Valley and the world.”
That vision also means multiplying ministry leaders—not just adding them—and planting churches. While a few part-time staff members have been hired to support the church’s ministries, church members have been equipped to preach, teach, and serve on ministry teams.
