‘By the grace of God’: Church leaders express joy ahead of mortgage-burning service
Bishop Marvin C. Reeves, left, and his son, Pastor Marwin C. Reeves have had refurbishing their church Christ Community Worship Center on West Fourth Street in Williamsport. When the church bought the building in 2000 it was badly in need of repairs and since then they have worked on every part of the building to make it usable and updated from the sanctuary to the child care area. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette
Bishop Marvin C. Reeves talks about the long road he and his son, Pastor Marwin C. Reeves have had refurbishing their church Christ Community Worship Center on West Fourth Street in Williamsport. When the church bought the building in 2000 it was badly in need of repairs and since then they have worked on every part of the building to make it usable and updated from the sanctuary to the child care area. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette
Afternoon light floods through stained glass windows on Christ Community Worship Center on West Fourth Street in Williamsport. When the church, under the leadership of Bishop Marvin C. Reeves and his son, Pastor Marwin C. Reeves, bought the building in 2000 it was badly in need of repairs and since then they have worked on every part of the building to make it usable and updated from the sanctuary to the child care area. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette
Bishop Marvin C. Reeves, left, and his son, Pastor Marwin C. Reeves have had refurbishing their church Christ Community Worship Center on West Fourth Street in Williamsport. When the church bought the building in 2000 it was badly in need of repairs and since then they have worked on every part of the building to make it usable and updated from the sanctuary to the child care area. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette
Bishop Marvin C. Reeves talks about the long road he and his son, Pastor Marwin C. Reeves have had refurbishing their church Christ Community Worship Center on West Fourth Street in Williamsport. When the church bought the building in 2000 it was badly in need of repairs and since then they have worked on every part of the building to make it usable and updated from the sanctuary to the child care area. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette
Afternoon light floods through stained glass windows on Christ Community Worship Center on West Fourth Street in Williamsport. When the church, under the leadership of Bishop Marvin C. Reeves and his son, Pastor Marwin C. Reeves, bought the building in 2000 it was badly in need of repairs and since then they have worked on every part of the building to make it usable and updated from the sanctuary to the child care area. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette
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"This is your church."
That was the quiet but clear spiritual inner voice heard by Bishop Marvin C. Reeves as he walked the perimeter of St. Paul's Lutheran Church, 436 W. Fourth St., Williamsport, which had a green "for sale" sign outside.
It was 24 years ago when Reeves was in "street ministry," pastoring a charismatic church in Milton.
His flock needed a permanent place to practice its faith and St. Paul's, a church with its foundation stone indicating it was constructed in 1871, was going to be it.
At that time, the church listed for a little more than $800,000.
"That is what they wanted for it," he said. "I would not have moved on it had I not heard the voice."
Reeves recalled the day, a Tuesday, when the Realtor showed him the interior of the church.
It was in rough shape, with water in the foyer and a musty smell in the air, he said.
"We didn't see any of that being an impediment against us buying the building," he said. "I said, 'wow,' we can buy this church. We had no assets to buy it, but our credit was perfectly good."
The church sold for $240,000 and in a year's time the congregation had raised over $100,000.
God sends helpers
"Somebody told me we needed an architect," Reeves said. "It was in rough shape."
But by His grace, he said, the bishop was connected with several talented individuals, each one with specialized skills and certifications. Donald Becker and his wife ran Becker's Construction.
"He came to see me a week before Christmas and asked me, 'What do you need?'" Reeves said.
Becker toured the church, was shown the pulpit area, which he extended six feet. He built an area for the baptismal pool.
"You see all the crown molding around the stage," Reeves' son, Senior Pastor Marwin C. Reeves Jr., said. "Donald did that work."
All the specialty crown molding on the corners and side – he did that, the younger Reeves said.
Becker built a sound booth for the special events and musical performances.
"We had no stage for any kind of worship team the way we as a charismatic church worship the Lord," Bishop Reeves said.
There were two lecterns and steps leading to facade pipes that had to be removed in order to get to the functioning system on stage. All of this work occurred in the early 2000s.
Another contractor, a skilled painter, began to transform the dingy paint into what it is today in the sanctuary. The pastor and bishop credited Carolyn Forsche for her administrative assistance and Rainbow Carpet for providing an install of carpet after the older carpet was so worn that it would come up every time it was vacuumed.
"We wanted to keep the antiquity of the building," Pastor Reeves said.
Among those features are sliding [pocket doors that descend into the basement, giving double the space. The high arched ceiling is inspiring. It, too, was painted and its structure and integrity were inspected.
"We have scaffolding pictures," Bishop Reeves said. "It was dangerous."
The lamp in the center of the ceiling is able to be hoisted using a hand crank for cleaning and light bulb changes.
"It's a bear attempting to maintain," Pastor Reeves said. "By the grace of God we have been able to do so."
Yet another skilled laborer, John Smouse, served this church with his skills at plumbing and electrical and his licensing in those fields, the officials said.
"We could never have done it by ourselves," the father and son attested.
"To this day, if I need something I can call John," Bishop Reeves said.
Once, a pipe burst in the basement and was filling up with water at 2 a.m. and he got out of bed and fixed it, Reeves said.
By 2010, Bishop Reeves stepped aside and his son was leading the flock.
"In pastoring you never call it quits – you just call it retired," Reeves said laughing.
The bishop founded a church in Kennett Square near Philadelphia and in pastored in Virginia and Milton, Pa. He drove from Kennett Square to Milton twice a week, about eight hours in all, to visit with parishioners in the Northumberland County community.
While Marwin was senior pastor in 2010, he also was working full-time for the federal Bureau of Prisons as a treatment specialist.
"Most of my days were 16 hour days," he acknowledged.
In 2010, the Williamsport-based church began a more communal focus, offering summer camps to children and working with college students attending Lock Haven and Bloomsburg universities and Lycoming College.
"The church was growing in numbers," he said. "You reach a certain point in the ministry level of success being rewarded."'
But every church experiences hills and valleys and goes through purging periods, Pastor Reeves said. The year 2017 was when the summer camp program ended but it would not be the last time the church leadership would be able to reach young minds and souls.
"We had a school administrator suggest we open a childcare center," Pastor Reeves said. After all, a communitywide assessment also indicated such a need.
"God advanced his purpose in us" and "we leveraged our time to start a before and after school program," Reeves said.
The church has a comprehensive website that details all of its personnel, programs, historical references and mission, which remains: "Live intentionally for eternity, imparting principles to a multi-ethnic, multi-generational congregation submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ."
The church's mortgage burning ceremony is expected to draw a wide range of visitors. The pastor and bishop both have invited many guests, including city officials to join in the celebration.