First Century Worship Center

234 S 11th St.

History: This building dates back to 1898. At this point in time, no historical information is available for the original congregation. First Century’s congregation formed in 1999. They are a non-denominational church and welcome all people to come and worship.

Congregation/space: This building features a sanctuary space with original stained glass throughout and a spacious fellowship hall on the lower level. First Century has about 75 people coming into the building for any purpose weekly, and there seems to be a new influx of younger individuals from the community coming in to worship. Attendance of Spanish-speakers has greatly increased, and there have been recent efforts to make services bi-lingual, to reach more of the community.

Programs: First Century’s main focus is helping needy communities both locally and abroad. They have organized book bag giveaways to local students and have opened their doors for holiday meals for the community. Pastor Jack Williams mentions his calling to do missionary work in third world countries. He and some congregation members have visited countries like Haiti several times, and the church’s members as a whole support mission work. Pastor Williams hopes to spread knowledge of Christ and hopes to spend the upcoming years establishing churches in developing nations around the world.