Our Church History

Here is a history of Christ Community Church.  Click below to jump to one of the sections.

	The Early Years (1982 - 1987)
	The Year of Preparation
	The Vromans Come to Edison
	Christ Community Church
	The Ravises Come to Edison
	Christ Community Church Missions Program
	Becoming a Church
	From Edison to Piscataway
	Where God Changes Lives

The Early Years (1982 - 1987)

The roots of Christ Community Church go back the early 1980’s. A Bible study that grew out of the Community Bible Fellowship Church in Howell, NJ blossomed into a church that began meeting on Sunday evenings at the Community Presbyterian Church in Edison. Comprised mainly of young single adults, the church quickly grew. The church was an informal, warm fellowship of new believers who cared very much for one another. John Vandegriff, then the pastor of Community Bible Fellowship Church, and Dan Ziegler, Executive Director of Church Extension for the Bible Fellowship Church, were very involved in the teaching and formation of the church in those early years.  For a time Dave Wadkins, now pastor of the Bible Fellowship Church in Graterford, PA, was part-time pastor for the group.

In June of 1986, Dennis Cahill officially began as the first full-time pastor of what was known at that time as the Edison Bible Fellowship Church. On their first Sunday the Cahills met with a handful of people around a picnic bench in Johnson Park in Highland Park. For the first several months Dennis and his family commuted from Phoenixville, PA. The Cahill family moved to Edison in August of 1986.

From the fall of 1986 through the end of 1987, the church met at the American Legion Hall in Iselin. However, by the end of 1987 differences about the vision and future of the church became apparent, and in early 1988 the church dissolved and services ceased.

Despite the difficulties, fond memories of the 1980’s include meeting in the gazebo in Johnson Park for Sunday services and the Fire Escape Coffee House which met in the basement of Community Presbyterian Church.

The Year of Preparation (1988)

Pastor Cahill spent 1988 working a variety of part-time jobs, completing work on a Master of Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary, trying to help with housework (Patty was expecting Sarah), and making plans for restarting the church. During that time the Cahills continued to meet on Wednesday evenings with Bill and Dot Kriney to pray for the new beginning.

With the help of Dan Ziegler, a strategy for reaching the community through using telephone and direct mail was planned. Over the summer of 1988, each church in the denomination was contacted to ask for financial support and people to help with the outreach effort. Over $10,000 was raised to meet the initial expenses of the restart. In addition, numerous churches committed to helping with the phone calling and to provide assistance with the initial services. The new beginning of the church would be a cooperative effort of many Bible Fellowship Churches.

Then in the fall of 1988, permission was granted to meet at Washington School in Edison. Several years earlier the church had been denied access to Edison schools on the grounds that churches should not be allowed to meet in public buildings. It was an answer to prayer.

About that same time, Dennis began going door-to-door asking people what they were looking for in a church. He knocked on the doors of over 1,000 homes over a period of several weeks. On one discouraging day, he remembers being invited into the home of Bob and Mary Whitehouse. Shortly after that Bob and Mary would become part of the small group that would become the core of the new church effort.

In December of 1988, a Bible study was started in the Cahill home on Sunday mornings. An earlier effort to begin a neighborhood Bible study had ended in failure, but this time the group quickly grew to over thirty people, crowded into the small house on Penn Avenue in Edison. The vision of a new church was discussed and planned with the group gathered there.

The Vromans Come to Edison

Sometime in 1988, Dan Ziegler mentioned to Dennis that Dick Vroman, a fellow graduate of Biblical Theological Seminary, was open to considering a change in ministry. At the time Dick was part-time visitation pastor at the Bible Fellowship Church in Hatfield, PA. Dennis called Dick and made an appointment to meet with him and his wife, Diana. Dennis traveled to Lansdale, PA to share with Dick and Diana the vision for a new church and to ask Dick to take over the responsibility of the Christian Education program. After several months of prayer and discussion, in January of 1989, Dick and Diana began the to commute back and forth from Lansdale, Pa to Edison for the Sunday morning Bible study at the Cahill home. After several months of commuting, the Lord provided Dick a job in quality assurance with Pathmark Supermarkets. The Vromans became official Edison residents in November of 1989. Since the beginning of the church in 1989, Dick has been Christian Education Director. For ten years the Vromans' faithfulness and leadership have been an essential part of the ministry of the church.

Christ Community Church

Since this was to be the beginning of a new church and since people from many different communities would be attending, it was decided in the fall of 1988 to call the church Christ Community Church.

In February of 1989, phone calling began. Fifteen phone lines had been installed in the basement of New Durham Chapel in Piscataway, NJ. The core group of the new church, along with many people from other Bible Fellowship Churches, began calling area residents. Some churches sent as many as fifteen people to help. The Bible Fellowship Church in Howell canceled their evening service for five weeks so that Pastor John Vandegriff and other church members could help make phone calls. The callers asked two questions: “Are you actively involved in a local church?” and (if the answer to the first question was 'no') “Would you like to receive information on a new church?” By the end of the month slightly over 40,000 phone calls had been made and about 2,000 people indicated that they did not have a church and would be interested in receiving information about a new church.

Phase two of the campaign got underway in March. As soon as people responded positively to the phone call, a letter was sent to them. During March a different mailing was sent to each of the 2,000 every week. Many Sundays afternoons after church services were spent addressing envelopes.

In April the 2,000 people who had expressed interest were contacted again by phone to remind them of the first Sunday service. People who were very positive were recruited to help out with the service. On the day of the first service, many of the guests brought baked goods for refreshments, others helped with ushering.

April 16 was the first official service of Christ Community Church. Approximately 195 people attended that initial service. Connie Dyson from the Bible Fellowship Church in Royersford sang and Dennis Cahill preached.

Clyde and Carol Snyder from the Bible Fellowship Church in Coopersburg, PA also were important to the beginning of the church. For over six months they commuted back and forth from Pennsylvania every Sunday. Clyde led singing and Carol played piano and organized a choir.

Attendance for the first year averaged 87.

The Ravises Come to Edison

Dennis and Patty Cahill attended Florida Bible College with Rick and Patsy Ravis during the 1970's. Then Rick and Dennis attended Biblical Theological Seminary together. Soon after coming to Edison, Dennis suggested to Rick (who at that time was youth pastor at Berachah Church in Philadelphia) that he consider coming to New Jersey. At the time the Ravises did not seriously consider such a move. But shortly after the restart in 1989 Dennis approached the Board of Church Extension and asked permission to pursue calling an Associate Pastor to the Church. At the same time the Ravises sensed that their time at Berachah was drawing to a close and began to pray earnestly about coming to New Jersey.

In November and December of 1989, less than a year after the first service, the possibility of calling the Ravises was presented to the church. Rick was being asked to take a position that would emphasis leading the small group ministry and worship. During that time Clyde and Carol Snyder returned to their church and Dennis was pressed into service as worship leader. The church quickly realized that something had to be done.

In January of 1990, the congregation filled out pledge cards to meet the financial need of a second staff member. It was a big step of faith. The offerings almost doubled immediately. The Ravises sensed God's call on their lives and accepted the position. In May of 1990, the Ravises moved to Edison to begin their ministry.

Over the last nine years God has greatly used Rick and Patsy. Their commitment to the Lord, musical ability, love for people, Rick's preaching and teaching, and Patsy's hospitality have helped to define Christ Community Church.

Christ Community Church Missions Program

In 1990 Christ Community Church began supporting their first missionaries, Cliff and Becky Boone. The Boones were called to Tanzania, Africa to work with an unreached people group, the Sandawes.

Since that time the church has taken on the support of several other missionaries. John and Nancy LoRusso went to Tanzania to provide technical support for the Boones. They have since completed their missions service and returned home to Pennsylvania. The church also supports Dennis and Sue Spinney, who are planting a new Bible Fellowship Church in Massachusetts; Wayne and Gay Pauley who are planting a church among the Chinese in Brooklyn, NY; and Mark and Jocelyn Scott, who are working with Campus Crusade for Christ to reach college students in New Jersey.

Becoming a Church

In 1992, the church called their first leaders. The first elders were Dick Vroman, Ken Zimmerman, Bob Matthey, and Joe Adevai. The first deacons were Bill Kriney and Clark Griffith. Christ Community Church was officially recognized as a church by the Bible Fellowship Church at the 1992 Annual Conference of the Bible Fellowship Church.

From Edison to Piscataway

During the summer of 1997, the Edison School Board informed Christ Community Church that after the 97/98 school year Washington School would no longer be available for Sunday services during the summer and holidays. The church was given until June 30, 1998 to find a new meeting place. 

The church began the process of looking at new facilities, starting with the idea of leasing a facility that could be used through the entire week. One facility was found in a good location with adequate size, but the cost of renovations to the building was estimated to be in excess of $200,000, which was more than the church believed they could afford. In January of 1998, Christ Community Church became interested in a church building in New Brunswick on Livingston Avenue. It would have been a significantly different kind of ministry, moving from a suburban to an urban environment. After many meetings and discussions, seeking God's direction, the congregation agreed to pursue the purchase of the building. In March of 1988, the Board of Elders made an initial offer to purchase the building. Almost immediately, the property was taken off the market.

Following that closed door, the church began considering Sunday rentals. By the middle of May, three possible options had presented themselves — all with significant problems. One was too far north and would have meant a long commute for many people. A second was not considered adequate. The third was the Livingston Student Center. It was a beautiful facility that was situated in an ideal location in Piscataway. But the church was told that there would be six or seven dates on which the building would be unavailable. This was considered unworkable. The week before a final decision needed to be made, Dennis and Rick met with the director of the building. As they talked and considered the calendar, most of the problem dates disappeared. The church was left with three Sundays during the summer on which other arrangements would need to be made. At the annual retreat of Elders and Deacons it was decided that the church would agree to meet at the Livingston Student Center. In the Spring of 1999 the church was informed that there would be only one Sunday during the summer of 1999 when the Student Center would be unavailable.

In the months following the move to Piscataway the church continued to grow and many new people became part of Christ Community Church. By the beginning of 1999 Sunday worship attendance was averaging 228.

Where God Changes Lives

Since its beginning, it has been the desire of Christ Community Church to be a place where God changes lives through the gospel of Jesus Christ. And that has happened. During the first ten years many have come to faith in Christ, many have been baptized (from April 16, 1989 through April 16, 1999 118 were baptized) and many others would testify to the work of God in their lives. It is the desire of the church to always be a place where God changes lives!