We celebrated our 95th Anniversary on October 11, 2005. Phineas Bresee preached and organized the church on October 10, 1910.
We are looking forward to, and making plans for, celebrating our 100th Anniversary on October 10, 2010!
95 Years of “Telling the Story of Jesus” in the Mansfield Community!
Few churches are blessed with the legacy of the Community Church of the Nazarene in Mansfield, Illinois. Chances are you have had a part of the history of this church in some way. We invited the community, former members, pastors and our current Illinois District Nazarene leadership to join us for the festivities. We began with our usual fellowship time of a light breakfast, coffee and doughnuts at 10:00 am, prayer for the Worship Service which began at 10:30 am. We had over 65 people for the Morning Worship service as we thanked God for the history of this church serving the people of the community and giving God the glory. Pastor Carlos Lonberger brought the message. Immediately after the morning worship service, we enjoyed a wonderful potluck dinner together with a big delicious ham provided by the church, Junior’s fish fry and dishes to pass provided by all! We are famous for our dinners in this community... our cooks know what they are doing! Many thanks to all that helped with that excellent meal and special cakes for the festivities. An inflated Shark bounce house kept the kids occupied as the adults shared a great time of memories and fellowship. Then at 3:00 began our 95 Year Anniversary Celebration service. Our Special Speaker for the day, Rev. James Blue, is a former pastor of the Community Church of the Nazarene in Mansfield and the current pastor of the Church of the Nazarene in Olivet, Illinois, as well as District Chairman of Sunday School Ministries for the Illinois District. Rev. Jim gave us great stories from the past and an excellent challenge for the future. Now is not the time to rest, but look forward to how we can impact our community for Jesus. God will direct if we will follow! We just have to keep our eyes on Jesus and our steps on the path as led by the Holy Spirit.
“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee…” Isaiah 26:3
