The History Of Allison Park Church
Planting churches was a vision of Reverend William Bailey, and out of that vision Allison Park Church was birthed. From a small scale beginning in 1966, Allison Park Church has grown into the current community of believers that is impacting the entire region of the North Hills.
Years before the church was actually started, there were people praying for a Spirit-filled Church in the North Hills area. These prayers became the foundation of the Church's growth. William Bailey began holding home Bible studies in the spring of 1966. By fall, services were being held on Sundays at the Odd Fellows Lodge. During the summer of 1967, William's son, D. Ronald Bailey, assumed the position of Interim Pastor, and a year later became Allison Park Church's first Senior Pastor.From 1968 through 1973 the congregation met in various locations. As more people became a part of Allison Park Church, the need for a permanent structure became evident. In September of 1973, our first permanent building was purchased at 2201 Duncan Avenue. By 1977, the congregation had outgrown this facility and was searching for land on which to expand. Adjacent property was unavailable but a large enough tract of land was found only a quarter mile down the road.
On July 29, 1979, the church building at 2326 Duncan Avenue was opened. In one year's time, the congregation again outgrew this facility and two services were needed on Sunday mornings. Pastor Jeffrey S. Leake succeeded Pastor Ron Bailey as Senior Pastor in 1991. Since that time the vision first birthed in Rev. William Bailey has continued.
Under Pastor Jeff's leadership, Allison Park Church continued to grow. Soon, a third service was added and the sanctuary was full and parking was a real problem. We felt the need to find property and build a larger sanctuary. A few sites were located, but the purchases were always thwarted.
In 1994, during one of Pastor Jeff's morning prayer times when he was crying out to God about our parking problem,he distinctly heard God say "I hear your problem, but what are you going to do about My problem." God revealed that His problem is the 350,000 people of the North Hills that don't know about Him.
The theme scripture for Allison Park became Matthew 6:33..."But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."
In 1996, Pastor Jeff launched a plan to plant 5 churches in 5 years. An aggressive and risky task, but through the efforts of Pastor Jeff, and many staff pastors and members, five churches were planted in the North Hills area by the year 2001. Churches were planted in Cranberry, Ambridge, Sharpsburg, East End, and West View. We have seen miracle upon miracle in the provisions from God.
Also during that time Allison Park was able to repurchase the original church building at 2201 Duncan Avenue to house our 2Twenty Youth Ministry.
Not only did God provide for the North Hills, but He met our needs with 21 acres of property west and 5 acres of property east of 2326 Duncan Avenue that became available and we were able to purchase. October 2002 we launched our "Building for Tomorrow" campaign to build a new ministry facility that connects to our previous facility.
We are not stopping at 5 church plants either. In April 2005 we began to partner with Brian and Angie Bolt to launch a church plant reaching the inner city of Pittsburgh, starting with Lawrenceville and in March 2008 we began BridgePoint Church with Greg and Francie Krowitz. Plans are to continue planting churches throughout the North Hills region as Allison Park Church is committed to the vision and purpose of..."Changing the World...One Life At A Time".