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The journey of the Goshen Seventh-day Adventist Church started under the leadership of Pastor Ruben Middleton and a committed group of Belizeans who were worshiping in the basement of a First Day Church for a period of time. The membership was not increasing as fast as they expected thus Pastor Middleton, with the cooperation of the members and the leading of the Holy Spirit as read in Genesis 46:2-4, decided to rent another church on 29th and Ashland where they felt the need to reach the lost there. The membership increased to approximately 50 and then became an established church under the name of Mount Zion.

 

It was at this time that the Illinois Conference of Seventh-day Adventists decided to seek the help of Evangelist Oscar Lane. Evangelist Oscar Lane started the crusade which lasted over a month on 39th and Pershing road. The crusade was very successful and over 800 members came to accept Christ as their personal Lord and Savior and were baptized.

 

Due to the large increase in membership, the Illinois Conference of Seventh-day Adventists needed to find a church home for the large membership and decided to merge them with the Mount Zion Church. The name was then changed to Goshen Seventh-day Adventist Church. It was at that time in August 1984 that Pastor Marvin Brown was introduced as the new church pastor. The church rented Phillips High School for short period of time after which they found and rented the Kenwood United Church of Christ in September 1984 until October 5, 2013. Pastor Leroy Sanders, who is the pastor of the Kenwood United Church of Christ was a great help and gracious host to our church for all of those years.

 

Under the leadership of Pastor Marvin Brown, the church building committee was formed to facilitate with the process of finding a permanent church home. During this time Goshen had looked south east and west from warehouses to churches to land and other buildings for sale. During the process we lost members and some had moved on and unfortunately the church wasn’t successful in finding a church home. Pastor Brown’s service to Goshen ended in 1992.

 

Pastor LeeRoy Coleman join the Goshen as the new church pastor in the Spring of 1992. Under his leadership the building committee continued to look for a place to call home and finally some land was found at 54th and King Drive. The church purchased the property and broke ground shortly afterwards.

 

The Goshen SDA Church members were rejoicing because finally a church home was in sight. However, the rejoicing was short-lived. The church began having difficulties with the contractor which caused the building project to be put on hold for approximately 2 years. Eventually, the Alderman for the ward, Miss. Tillman had the building demolished. The property was eventually sold. Our focus then reverted back to searching for church home and even the possibility of a merger with the Beverly Hills SDA church. Some of the members got discouraged and joined other churches because of the shattered dreams and others passed on before their dreams became a reality. Pastor Coleman left Goshen in the summer of 2007.

 

First Elder James Ferguson then oversaw the day-to-day functions of the Goshen church during the search for new pastor from the summer of 2007 to the winter of 2008.

 

In February 2008, Pastor Gordon accepted the call to be the pastor of the Goshen Church under his leadership the building committee was reconstructed and restructure as the search continued. In October 2010 finally our hopes and dreams for a church home became a reality with the purchase of the property at 8221 South State Street. Since completion of our new building the Goshen Church has thrived. 

 

Under Pastor Fraser’s leadership, Goshen has been a mission driven congregation, always active in the city of Chicago through mission by means of community outreach initiatives including clothing drives, meals for the homeless, Loads of Love (a ministry that helps the community pay for laundry), Community Children’s Party, Community Baby Showers, iWork Chicago (our community job fair), March Against Violence, and our continued partnership with the Angel Tree Network. Goshen is truly a church on the move and one congregation that pushes past the four corners of our church building, engages with our community, and reaches people where they are and meets the need.  

 

In November 2018, after 34 years Goshen installed its first Executive Pastor, Dr. Casey Adams. As a Pastoral Team, Pastor’s Fraser and Adams have been instrumental in rebranding and updating the Church through various projects and new multimedia and mediums such as a Remodeled Stage, new Church Website, Live Streaming, a Television Channel, and much more.

 

In 2019 Goshen welcome its first female Pastoral Staff member, Dr. Barbara Bellar who serves as Associate Pastor.

 

God has truly blessed Goshen to be a beacon of late in the South Chicago area. It is our hope and prayer that God continues to bless our efforts that many more souls would come to know him.

 

The journey of the Goshen Seventh-day Adventist Church started under the leadership of Pastor Ruben Middleton and a committed group of Belizeans who were worshiping in the basement of a First Day Church for a period of time. The membership was not increasing as fast as they expected thus Pastor Middleton, with the cooperation of the members and the leading of the Holy Spirit as read in Genesis 46:2-4, decided to rent another church on 29th and Ashland where they felt the need to reach the lost there. The membership increased to approximately 50 and then became an established church under the name of Mount Zion. It was at this time that the Illinois Conference of Seventh-day Adventists decided to seek the help of Evangelist Oscar Lane. Evangelist Oscar Lane started the crusade which lasted over a month on 39th and Pershing road. The crusade was very successful and over 800 members came to accept Christ as their personal Lord and Savior and were baptized.

 

Due to the large increase in membership, the Illinois Conference of Seventh-day Adventists needed to find a church home for the large membership and decided to merge them with the Mount Zion Church. The name was then changed to Goshen Seventh-day Adventist Church. It was at that time in August 1984 that Pastor Marvin Brown was introduced as the new church pastor. The church rented Phillips High School for short period of time after which they found and rented the Kenwood United Church of Christ in September 1984 until October 5, 2013. Pastor Leroy Sanders, who is the pastor of the Kenwood United Church of Christ was a great help and gracious host to our church for all of those years.

 

Under the leadership of Pastor Marvin Brown, the church building committee was formed to facilitate with the process of finding a permanent church home. During this time Goshen had looked south east and west from warehouses to churches to land and other buildings for sale. During the process we lost members and some had moved on and unfortunately the church wasn’t successful in finding a church home. Pastor Brown’s service to Goshen ended in 1992.

 

Pastor LeeRoy Coleman join the Goshen as the new church pastor in the Spring of 1992. Under his leadership the building committee continued to look for a place to call home and finally some land was found at 54th and King Drive. The church purchased the property and broke ground shortly afterwards. The Goshen SDA Church members were rejoicing because finally a church home was in sight. However, the rejoicing was short-lived. The church began having difficulties with the contractor which caused the building project to be put on hold for approximately 2 years. Eventually, the Alderman for the ward, Miss. Tillman had the building demolished. The property was eventually sold. Our focus then reverted back to searching for church home and even the possibility of a merger with the Beverly Hills SDA church. Some of the members got discouraged and joined other churches because of the shattered dreams and others passed on before their dreams became a reality. Pastor Coleman left Goshen in the summer of 2007.

 

First Elder James Ferguson then oversaw the day-to-day functions of the Goshen church during the search for new pastor from the summer of 2007 to the winter of 2008.

 

In February 2008, Pastor Gordon accepted the call to be the pastor of the Goshen Church under his leadership the building committee was reconstructed and restructure as the search continued. In October 2010 finally our hopes and dreams for a church home became a reality with the purchase of the property at 8221 South State Street. Since completion of our new building the Goshen Church has thrived. 

 

Under Pastor Fraser’s leadership, Goshen has been a mission driven congregation, always active in the city of Chicago through mission by means of community outreach initiatives including clothing drives, meals for the homeless, Loads of Love (a ministry that helps the community pay for laundry), Community Children’s Party, Community Baby Showers, iWork Chicago (our community job fair), March Against Violence, and our continued partnership with the Angel Tree Network. Goshen is truly a church on the move and one congregation that pushes past the four corners of our church building, engages with our community, and reaches people where they are and meets the need.  

 

In November 2018, after 34 years Goshen installed its first Executive Pastor, Dr. Casey Adams. As a Pastoral Team, Pastor’s Fraser and Adams have been instrumental in rebranding and updating the Church through various projects and new multimedia and mediums such as a Remodeled Stage, new Church Website, Live Streaming, a Television Channel, and much more.

In 2019 Goshen welcomed its first female Pastoral Staff member, Dr. Barbara Bellar who serves as Associate Pastor.

 

God has truly blessed Goshen to be a beacon of late in the South Chicago area. It is our hope and prayer that God continues to bless our efforts that many more souls would come to know him.

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