Please click on any image to enlarge it.

THE BEGINNINGS— Before the church moved to Eleventh Street in 1941, it was located on Sixth Street, using the facilities of Emmanuel Presbyterian Church. In 1941 the church bought the current facility from the Methodist Church of New York. The church building was built in 1868 and the parsonage added onto it in 1899.

Our Church had its roots in the Russian Baptist Church and became the first Slavic (Russian, Ukrainian and Polish) Pentecostal Church in America. On July 1, 1919, with eighteen members from the Russian Baptist Church, who were baptized with the Holy Spirit and spoke with new tongues, our church was born. The founding Pastor was Ivan Efimovich Voronaeff, a Cossack born in 1892 in the Ural Mountains of Central Russia. The Church was incorporated on February 25, 1925 as, “The Russian Ukrainian and Polish Pentecostal Church.”

During a prayer meeting at the home of Ann Siritz (Lillian Koltovich’s sister), Pastor Voronaeff received a call from the Lord to return to Russia to preach the Gospel. Through his ministry in Russia and surrounding countries, over 350 churches were established and there were over 80,000 Pentecostal believers by 1929. He was arrested in 1932 and sent to Siberia to serve a four-year sentence for preaching the Gospel. Then again in 1936 he was arrested and sent to a Leningrad prison where, according to his family, he was martyred by firing squad in 1943. His wife was also imprisoned until 1960. Although it is impossible to get accurate statistics, it has been estimated that there are at least 600,000 Pentecostals in Russia today, and the figure may be much higher than this.

After Pastor Voronaeff returned to Russia, the Lord raised up Rev. Demian A. Matysuk to serve as pastor and services continued to be held in the gym of the Emmanuel Presbyterian Church. Meanwhile, one of the members of the church, Ann Siritz, was impressed of the Holy Spirit to reach out to the English-speaking children and youth of the Russian, Ukrainian and Polish congregation. She began a Youth Group and then a Sunday School which met every Saturday. In 1932, they responded to the ever increasing burden of the Holy Spirit to reach out to the growing English-speaking community and organized themselves under the name of Evangelical Christian Church. The Sunday School became the main instrument for evangelizing the ever changing and transient community. 

GROWING PAINS— Continuing to reach out to the Slavic speaking peoples of the community, the church grew to over 300 members. In 1941 the church moved to its present location at 543 East 11th Street. They purchased a print shop in Philadelphia to print Bibles, hymnals and other literature in their native languages. They sent these materials all over the world to people who requested them. The church also supported Missionaries endeavoring to reach Slavic speaking people around the world. As time passed, the Ukrainian and Polish speaking members of the church expressed their desire to worship and hear the Gospel in their own languages. Therefore, a Ukrainian language church was established on Seventh Street and a Polish language church was founded on Tenth Street. The Pastors of the Russian-speaking congregation after Rev. Matysuk were Rev. Gouroff, Rev. Shepeluk and Rev. Yacuk. Services were conducted in the Russian language until 1988 and ended with the resignation of Rev. Yacuk.

Meanwhile, the English-speaking youth group was growing as well and realized their need of an English-speaking pastor. Rev. Ann Scirmont became the first English-speaking pastor and served in that position for three and a half years. Until 1988, services were conducted separately in both English and Russian yet they remained one body.

After Rev. Scirmont left to assume the position of Associate Pastor at the Rock Church in Manhattan, Rev. and Mrs. Gunnar Jacobsen took the pastorate. Under their ministry there was a tremendous outreach to the children and youth of this community. Under Sister Jacobsen and then Mary Dash, the Sunday School and the required Teacher Training became hallmark ministries of the church and a link to the community. When Pastor Jacobsen left to start urban mission centers throughout New York City, John Dash served as a lay minister to the congregation.

For the next five years, under the ministry of Revs. Forrest and Faith Dodge, the Evangelical Christian Church was incorporated and continued to grow with a fresh move of the Holy Spirit. The impact of their ministry on the church and the community can still be seen today. The children’s ministry expanded beyond Sunday School to encompass Saturday School where children learned Bible stories, songs and arts and crafts and Youth meetings. Many seeds were sown that have continued to bear fruit even to this day. It was under their ministry that Chuck Vedral was saved. In 1966 the Dodges left to serve as Missionaries to Columbia, S.A. From the time Pastor Dodge left for Columbia until Chuck Vedral became pastor, Ralph Allen, Ed Corley, and John Romaine served as interim pastors. 

TIMES OF TRANSITION— Pastor Vedral was pastor from 1967 until 1988 when he assumed the position of Overseer of the church. Under Pastor Vedral’s ministry “The Practical Ministry Center” was established. Students and graduates from five Bible Schools (Elim Bible Institute, Zion Bible Institute, Long Island Bible Institute, Pinecrest and Valley Forge Bible College) were trained in the practical areas of Urban Ministry. Since there were only a few adult converts from the community, Bible school students and graduates enabled the church to continue to proclaim the Gospel to the community. In 1977, the church experienced a major shift in the character of its ministry. Sunday School and Youth Ministry, which was ongoing through the years, gave way to a move of the Holy Spirit that focused on deliverance from substance abuse and the reconciliation and restoration of families.

In 1982, Marc and Linda Tarantino came to 11th Street and Marc was appointed the first Associate Pastor. In 1985, Perry and Marian Hutchins were appointed as associate pastors. Under the leadership of the three pastors and their wives, the church expanded the scope of its mission and ministry giving birth to more focused and balanced ministry. While remaining in the flow of the Holy Spirit , practical programs directed at restoring self-esteem and healing broken relationships evolved. The practical programs that developed included:

• Literacy, ESL and GED

• The Christian Gallery Bookstore Ministry (Job Training)

• New Life General Contracting Work Program (Job Training)

• AIDS Ministry (C.A.R.E.S) to those suffering from AIDS

In 1983, the Russian and English-speaking congregations joined to change the name of the corporation to Evangelical Christian Church to more effectively relate to the changing community.

In May of 1988 Marc Tarantino expressed a burden and a call to begin a church in Union City, N.J. with fifteen hungry people. This gave birth to The Evangelical Christian Church N.J. Outreach that soon grew to become Abiding Word Christian Church and then became Carlstadt Christian Assembly. In the same year Pastor Hutchins became the Pastor of the church and Pastor Vedral became the Overseer.

Under Pastor Hutchins’ ministry the church continued to refine its mission and purpose. God put upon his heart a vision for enlarging the ministry to become a “store house” that would address the varied and pressing needs of the poor of our community. In 1994, the church affiliated with Elim Fellowship, Lima, New York, and opened the door to obtain government funding for a food pantry. This led to the establishment of the Food Pantry distributing food to over 300 people per week.

FULFILLING THE CALL— In 1998, The Father’s Heart Ministries, founded by Chuck and Carol Vedral, and the Church joined to form The Father’s Heart Ministry Center. We began training Christian workers and leaders to demonstrate the good news of God’s love by going out into the streets of our community. The nurture, training and experience they have received has empowered them to exhibit God’s loving intentions with unconditional love, acceptance, forgiveness and commitment. The message of this ministry is: the Father is not angry because He has reconciled Himself to us through the sacrifice of His son, Jesus.

The message is demonstrated through a variety of programs through The Father’s Heart

Ministry Center such as:

• Hunger Prevention Program where between 400 and 600 people a week receive groceries, a hot breakfast and personal ministry.

• Family Crisis Prevention & Recovery Program where anyone, but especially parents who have lost their children to foster care, can receive the required Administration for Children’s Services instruction and ministry from the Word

• English as a Second Language, Literacy and GED classes for those seeking to gain employment or improving their educational skills

• Job training for reentry into the workplace. Trainees come through the Hunger Prevention, and Family Crisis Prevention & Recovery Programs and the congregation of The Father’s Heart Ministry Center

• Discipline for Service Courses I and II. Two 12-week courses to train and prepare laborers for the harvest. “Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few” Matthew 9:37, 38

• Weekly Bible instruction, children's and youth ministry, and a Christ centered 12-step support group.

Copyright © 2001-2004 The Father's Heart Church, Inc.  All rights reserved.