In late September 2014 Jim Carlton opened his building at 2 West Main Street in Salineville to a small group of people looking for a place to worship together.  We wanted to be passionate followers of Jesus who base our lives on the authority of the Word of God found in the Bible.  We began worshiping on Sunday evenings while Pastor Ted transitioned out of his ministry at Bethel Presbyterian Church.  In October, a group of twelve men met at the Gruber’s home for a men’s breakfast and prayer meeting.  Out of that meeting came our name: Everyone’s Welcome Church.  In November, some of us used Sunday mornings to visit some other churches and then we met to worship together on Sunday evenings. During those early months we met to consider whether to join the Evangelical Presbyterian Church or become a non-denominational fellowship.  Our board decided to identify as a non-denominational church but with an accountability board of four local pastors: Mike Direnzo (Everyday Church), Mike Ingole (River Fellowship), Mark Blakeley (First Christian of Wellsville) and Rick Lautzenheiser (Church of the Beloved).

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In December we switched our worship time to Sunday morning and continued to be blessed by Jim and Tracy Carlton’s kindness in allowing us to use their building.  About this time, Beverly Tedeschi let Ted know about the desire of the Salineville Council to sell the building at 2 East Main St.  Our board decided to put in a sealed bid of $11,001 for the building on December 27, 2014.  On March 17, 2015 Everyone’s Welcome Church became the owner of the beautiful three story building we now call home at 2 East Main Street.  Thanks to some large donations and many, many faithful givers God provided us the money to both buy the building outright and to make the necessary improvements.  We worked with a professional mold remediator to clean up the mold in the basement.  Other improvements during this time included a new heating and cooling system for the entire building, new chairs for sanctuary, used chairs for the rest of the building, new folding tables for second floor and basement, some new carpeting and flooring upstairs, newly painted walls, new floor in first floor bathroom, purchase and installation of sound equipment for the sanctuary, fixing the water leaking problem in the basement, and new interior walls constructed in the basement to name a few!  Everywhere you look you can see the hands of individuals who gave of their time and talent and money to create a space to welcome others.  On Sunday, May 10, 2015, we met in our new space for the very first time.  Then this year, we met on Sunday May 29, 2016 to celebrate the completion of our new kitchen and basement floor.

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Let us never forget what God has provided for us!  Let us take to heart the words of Deuteronomy 6: 10-12: “And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you – with  great and good cities that you did not build, and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant – and when you eat and are full, then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”  “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.  His love endures forever!” (Psalm 136:1)