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The Middle Years of GBBC
1966-1970 During this time of transition God led another motivated pastor. Soon the late Pastor Robert Kelly and wife Ruth and children arrived in Gettysburg. The Lord led Pastor Kelly to become the full time pastor of this group of believers. The ministry and attendance continued to grow. The need was felt by much of the congregation to seek a property and a facility that could be bought and used as a church building. Again God providentially led and a property soon became a possibility. There was an estate for sale with property from the late Earl Guise. This included a 40 x 80 block building, a 3-bedroom block building, and property for $25,000. The church asked Earl Guise for a thirty-day hold on the property so the people could make a decision. A Sunday school picnic was held on the grounds and everyone felt the green light to purchase the property and make the Guise Estate the new home for Gettysburg Bible Church.
The
old farm/implement Oliver tractor dealership became transformed
rather quickly. These talented and dedicated workers spent countless
hours on the property; cleaning, scrubbing floors, laying two inches
of new concrete, erecting partitions for Sunday school rooms and
classes, and blocking off the old garage doors. A complete set of
pews was purchased from the Mount Zion Lutheran Church in York, PA.
The first service was held on December 2, 1966 in the present
building, which is now GBBC’s current location. In an early writing
found from the congregation at this time, they expressed their
thoughts on this new building. The writing stated, “The building
was rough”, “The ceilings were dark and unlighted, the walls were
not painted, but we worshipped here with praise in our hearts to our
wonderful God.” During the years the late Pastor Kelly and his family ministered at GBC much work was done on the property. This included work parties of dedicated members who painted, landscaped, rewired, insulated, and cleaned. During this time Gettysburg Bible Church had a strong impact on the Adams County area and the world at large. They greatly emphasized missions, and had numerous evangelistic ministries that were greatly attended and kept active. These included an active bus ministry, ladies missionary circles, youth group, and in-house printing ministry of missionary letters called the Missionary Letter Service. Other ministries and outreaches included a courtesy committee, live nativity scenes, tourist ministry, soul winning, and more. In 1970 Pastor Kelly and his family felt led to transition into a full time work in the printing ministry of missionary letters and mailings, of which they maintained for many years. Before Pastor Kelly and his wife Ruth passed away he started two other churches, a Christian school, and worked in a camp ministry. Before his death in 2005 he would often visit the ministry at GBBC along with his wife. He would often remark to the Pastor how pleased he was to see the vision and outreaches of this present ministry still going strong for the Lord.
1970-1974 During this new transition in the ministry of GBC, God led another man and his wife to pastor the work. He was the late Howard Wheatley. He came to the Gettysburg area after Pastor Kelly’s resignation and continued on as pastor. A familiar figure, Pastor Wheatley had preached conferences at the church. He was known to be a scholarly man and wrote numerous tracts, pamphlets, and books on various topics of Christian interest. Some of these books may still be found in old Christian book collections. He was a pastor at GBC for four years before he passed away, but his impact on the church ministry was ingrained.
Click here to read more of the
history of GBBC. |
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Gettysburg Bible
Baptist Church |
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On
October 16, 1966 the title was transferred and soon GBC had its own
place to worship.
