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History of the church
HISTORY OF SHALOM
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH
After retiring from many years of service with the Northeastern Conference, the late Pastor Samuel James had a desire to start a church in Waterbury, Connecticut. After his death, his wife, Rhoda James kept his burden alive. With prayer and the leading of the Holy Spirit, Sister James approached Elder Vashni Davis Jr. and suggested that he go to Waterbury, CT to start a church. He asked her to pray about it and this she did. While visiting the Hope SDA Church in Hartford, Elder Davis was lead by the Holy Spirit to introduce himself to another visitor at the church, and to "tell him that he was interested in starting a church in Waterbury." The visitor was Elder Felix Ifill who was with his wife Patricia. Elder Ifill and his wife were very happy to hear about the desire to start another church in Waterbury.
In 1995, Elder Davis took his first step in starting a church in Waterbury. He contacted the pastor of the Mount Zion Church, James Parham. Following this initial contact, a request was made in writing to the Mt Zion’s Church Board, for approval to start a church in Waterbury, CT. Elder Davis invited those individuals who lived in Waterbury to come to his home in Branford, CT for a meeting. Those in attendance at that meeting included Elder Felix Ifill, Brother Michael Brett and family, Patricia Lindo, Marva Collins and Elder Vashni Davis, Sr. Plans were made to meet at Brother Brett’s home on Wednesday nights for prayer meeting. On Sundays Elder Davis and his father would visit different members living in the Waterbury area. Everyone they met had a burden for souls that were in need of hearing the Three Angel’s Message.
This small group had many wonderful times in the basement of Brother Brett’s home. With the offerings collected, a bank account was opened in the name of the Waterbury SDA Mission. Also, a post office box was secured which we still have to the present time. As was previously stated, the mission was started with the Ifill, Brett, and Lindo families, Sis. Marva Collins and Elder Davis. Later Sister Mary Huggins joined the mission, for she too was lead by the Lord to evangelize Waterbury. With this increase in membership, a larger place was to be acquired and more chairs to accommodate our growth.
A search started for a place of worship. The Lord impressed the Zion Lutheran Church at 1555 Hamilton Avenue to open their doors. The mission began worshipping at the present location with full services conducted on Sabbath morning and prayer on Wednesday night. The first baptism was one person in 1996. Edwin Thoms was the pastor at the Mt Zion SDA Church.
Evangelism was always the focus of the Waterbury Mission. The first evangelistic meeting was held in 1997. Following the evangelistic meeting, a Bible seminar was conducted by Elder Davis. As a result, several souls were won. In 1998 under the leadership of Pastor Toms, a tent meeting was held, and twenty-three souls were baptized. In this same year, a lay crusade was conducted by Elder Ron Banks and Pastor George Bulgin. An additional seven souls was baptized. Over the next few years, forty-one souls were baptized. Amen!!
Elder Davis conducted training seminars sessions for those who wanted to learn to witness. The newly organized Sabbath School eventually added the junior division. A Bible Class for members was started on Sabbath afternoon, followed by the Adventist Youth Meeting. Several weeks of prayer were conducted and individuals from Mt. Zion and Norwalk churches supported the mission with their preaching and music. Since the Mission’s goal was to bring souls to Jesus, every Sabbath was used for soul winning. Special days were designated for soul winning. The mission’s believers emphasize that "We come to worship God and Him only. Therefore, special days must always be utilized for bringing people to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ!"
On October 9, 1999, under the leadership of Pastor George Bulgin, the Waterbury Mission became a church. Shalom SDA Church was formed. We kept our goals to continue to evangelize and bring souls into the kingdom of Jesus Christ. On March 2002, Shalom was blessed with a new pastor. Under the leadership of Pastor Charles Creech, on March 2, 2004, we were able to acquire a new building of our very own. This was done with no financial help from the Conference. The church members through their dedication and stewardship, was able to buy a church at 84 Crown Street. When this church was acquired, there was no inside entrance from the sanctuary to the fellowship hall and toilet downstairs, therefore, the congregation had to worship in the fellowship hall for a while. We were able constructed a stairs, enlarged both the men’s and women’s toilets. There were blueprints and permits that were needed to be acquired and Pastor Creech and others worked tirelessly to accomplish this task. On May 20, 2005 we had our Grand Opening. A celebration to give the praise to God for blessing us with this church in the center of Waterbury, and to tell others of the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Pastor Creech served Shalom until his retirement from active ministry on June 30, 2007.
The goal of Shalom SDA Church is to evangelize, evangelize, and evangelize! "We believe that the signs of times tell us that the time is now and Waterbury must be warned of the Advent of our Lord and Savior. He is coming for a people that keep the commandments and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Pray for us and help us as we work to win souls for our Master
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