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OUR HISTORY..
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Alpha Baptist Church of Christ, Inc. grew
out of the association of twelve individuals who met weekly at
one of their homes to study the Bible. The twelve were members
of the Chit, the Zan and the Bass families. The group's
experiences from the weekly Bible studies were so rich and
rewarding that they decided to hold Bible study and worship
services for the general public.
As a result, on February 8, 1977, Dr. Joseph O. Bass and Nu Nu
Zan formed a corporation, the purpose of which was to encourage,
support and promote Christian Evangelism, Christian Missions,
Christian Education, Christian Stewardship, Benevolence, Human
Freedom and such other Christian work. The corporation was named
the Alpha Baptist Nurturing Center of the New Jersey Convention
of Progressive Baptists, Inc. and was located on East Broad
Street in the city of Burlington. Charter members were Tin Maung
Chit, Mrs. Mie Mie Chit, Carmen Chit, Winston Chit, Noel Chit,
Donna Williams, Pete Cooke, Nancy Cooke, Nu Nu Zan, Spencer Zan,
Rev. Joseph Bass, Mrs. Charline D. Bass, Karen S. Bass and Julie
Bass. The first new members to join the church were the James
Brown family.
The first public worship service was held on June 5, 1977 in the
gymnasium of the Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School,
Willingboro, NJ. Rev. Bass served as interim pastor. The group
later held services at premises located at 175 Somerset Drive,
Willingboro, NJ, which subsequently was purchased. The
congregation soon outgrew the Somerset Drive space resulting in
remodeling and expansion projects in 1978, 1984, 1986 and 1987.
In June 1980 Rev. Bass became the permanent pastor. On June 20,
1982, Reverend Anita Edwards was licensed to preach and became
the Assistant Pastor. Rev. Eric Johnson also later joined the
staff.
In 1984, Alpha became affiliated with the American Baptist
Churches, New Jersey and the American Baptist Churches, USA. The
need for additional spiritual leaders became apparent and in
1989, after completing two years of study, seventeen lay persons
received certificates as Lay Apostles. The name of the church
was changed to Alpha Baptist Church of Christ (Nurturing
Center), Inc. on August 29, 1989.
The church continued to grow, and without the ability to further
expand the facility, the congregation voted to build a new
church. On December 12, 1990, Alpha purchased three acres of
land at Rose and Pine Streets in the City of Willingboro upon
which to build the new church. Construction of the church began
in December, 1992. It was a labor of love as members applied
their skills and devoted their time to help build their church.
Finally, on October 17, 1993 the new church building was
dedicated and a congregation of two hundred seventy members
began worshipping at the new site. The membership and programs
expanded as new buildings and projects were added to the site.
Danny Scotton, Sr. was approved to receive a license to preach
in 1994 and in 1995 was appointed Youth Pastor. Three years
later, Rev. Alonzo Sutton and later Rev. Ernest Marke joined the
pastoral team, as did Reverend Charles Levi Martin in 2000.
After several years, the membership came full circle. Reverend
Bass submitted his resignation June 29, 2002, which was to be
effective September 30, 2002. He had served as pastor of Alpha
for twenty-five years and retired as Founder/Pastor Emeritus on
September 29, 2002.
His Successor, Reverend Danny E. Scotton, Sr. returned to Alpha
and was installed as Alpha's new Pastor on September 29, 2002.
He joined Associate Pastor Rev. Anita Edwards and Rev. Lewis
Cook, Rev. Michael Clay and Rev. Pamela Taylor. Rev. Maurice
Mimms later joined them, in turn. Under Pastor's Scotton's
leadership the Youth ministry, Men's Fellowship and Women's
Ministry have been greatly enhanced and many new ministries,
including Praise and Worship Dancers, the Marriage Ministry, the
Widow's Ministry, Pastor's Aide Ministry, Parenting Ministry,
Feed the Homeless Ministry, Mothers of Preschoolers ministry, to
name a few, have been added.
Reverend Scotton led in the development of the Church's motto:
"Look at Us" based on Acts 3:4b. Why do we challenge others to
look at us? Because Alpha C.A.R.E.S. The community has taken a
look and is pleased with the demonstrated love shown by our
members. Over nine hundred new Saints, including over 230 newly
baptized, have joined our membership bringing our total
membership to over one thousand, 850 of whom are active. Alpha
has also been blessed with an increase in its Pastoral Team.
Rev. Janet Montford, Rev. Willie Hall, Rev. Patty Harris, Rev.
Connie Henderson, Rev. Leesa Jones, Rev. Dr. Glen Porter and
Rev. A. Paulette Birchett have joined the team. In November of
2006 Rev. Lewis Cook was voted in by the membership as the
Assistant Pastor. Also, this year a second worship service was
added to ensure that all members and visitors could be
accommodated to worship the Lord. God is truly blessing the
Alpha Baptist Church in its continued growth and development.
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| HE HAS DONE MARVELOUS THINGS, PRAISE
THE LORD! |
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2008-2009 Alpha Baptist Church, All Rights Reserved. 
