Our Church History
In 1930, Pastor Joseph Flower started our first Assemblies of God gathering in a home in Glens Falls. The church grew and soon acquired the former Orthodox Jewish Synagogue on Jay Street in Glens Falls. Pastor Flower later pastored churches in
Pennsylvania, Maine and Massachusetts. In 1953, he was elected to be the Superintendent of the New York District of Assemblies of God churches. Pastor Flower served in this capacity until 1975, when he was elected to be the General Secretary of the General Council of the Assemblies of God (a national level position). He served in this capacity until he retired in 1993, at the age of 80.
In that time frame, our little church in Glens Falls saw a few more pastors. Pastor William Dickinson and Pastor John Reed each had a turn ministering at “Calvary Tabernacle” on Jay Street. In 1942, Pastor Robert Rainbow Sr. entered the pulpit and his first course of action was to legally establish the church. On June 26,1942 Calvary Tabernacle was officially born (recognized) and became a General Council Affiliated 501c3 organization. In 1948, Pastor Robert Rainbow Sr was called to minister to a church in Pennsylvania, and along came Pastor Edward Schaumburg.
Under Pastor Edward Schaumburg’s ministry, the Jay Street building was sold to the VFW. Property was also purchased at 100 Sherman Avenue in Glens Falls (right next door to the then, church parsonage — 88 Sherman Ave), and the foundation was built for the new church. While between church buildings, the congregation held services at Grange Hall on Nelson Street and had their mid-week gatherings in the parsonage. In January of 1954, when Pastor Schaumburg moved out, Pastor William Burnell moved in and set to work getting the brand new church built upon its foundation.
On July 1, 1954 “Calvary Tabernacle Assembly of God” was re-incorporated at the new location. The church was much smaller by this point and with its re-incorporation, it became New York District Affiliated (sadly this was a step down from formerly being General Council Affiliated. A quick note: Pastor Flower was the New York District Superintendent at this time and his signature was inscribed on the certificate). In the spring of 1955, the new church building was completed.
In March of 1960, Robert Rainbow Jr. became the pastor of this new building. Following him was Pastor Harry Tripp, then Pastor Storms in March of 1968.Under the ministry of Pastor Storms, Calvary Tabernacle Assembly of God built the Christian Education addition on the back of the church. Pastor Storms, at some point during his 10 years pastoring here, began to preach opposing doctrine to the Assemblies of God theology, and it’s believed by many that he attempted to transition the church to a baptist church. In 1978, the New York District stepped in to recover the church and won the battle. During this season, the church was just about dead. The former care taker of the grounds shared with me that the building was completely closed for a period of time.
In April of 1979, with Pastor Tuck Tellier as the interim-pastor, 19 people gathered to clean and re-establish the church. On May 20,1979, a vote was taken and Pastor Donald Maranville accepted the call to nurture the church back to health. In August of 1981, Pastor Maranville moved on and in October of that year, Pastor Charlie Semple became the Senior Pastor of Calvary Tabernacle Assembly of God, with just 13 people remaining in the church body.
Pastor Charlie Semple served this church body for 12 years and under his leadership Calvary Tabernacle Assembly of God, re-incorporated and became “Calvary Assembly of God”. The church grew and reached a capacity of more than 200 attendees (including children). During Pastor Semple’s time at Calvary AG, a new church parsonage was purchased and donated to the church.
In May of 1993 (the year that Pastor Flower retired), Pastor Charlie Semple moved on in ministry and Pastor David Frank began to serve our church body. During his ministry Pastor Dave and the church began to look for a larger place to gather and were deep in the process of relocating the church. After 10 years of service, Pastor Dave Frank moved on in ministry and 5 months later in March of 2004, Pastor Paul Keehr moved his family to Glens Falls, and began to feed our flock.
Pastor Paul Keehr served this church body and community for just over 14 years (the longest term to date). In those 14 years many things happened; Starting with the sagging of the roof and bowing of the walls (due to ice and snow buildup). Just 4 years into his term, Pastor Paul Keehr and this church congregation became a traveling ministry and pushed through the valley of darkness. The church of 50 members (plus many regular attendees) took on the million dollar project of tearing down the original building, revamping the christian education addition, and building a new and modern sanctuary (projected to increase seating capacity by 100 people).
On December 11, 2011, (approximately 3 years after the snow and ice squashed the church roof) our current church building was completed and once again, fully occupied. Church attendance once again blossomed as the Gospel message was preached and the Holy Spirit worked in hundreds of lives.
During Pastor Keehr’s term at Calvary AG, not only did the church body grow spiritually and physically, but the Administration Building was also added to the church footprint. The Bread of Life food pantry also took on life and its own building; and all this became known as “Calvary Family Life Center”. Many in our church family today, found the love they’d been searching for (within these gatherings) and discovered that God really does bring out beauty from the ashes. On August 11th &12th of 2015, Calvary Assembly of God celebrated 75 years of life. The hearts of those present were truly celebrating; knowing the broken stories that led to that beautiful day.
In June of 2018 Pastor Paul Keehr attempted to retire, and stepped down as pastor of Calvary Family Life Center. In August of 2018 Pastor John Serrano stepped in and began leading our church family. With a short amount of ministry time (with our church family) under his belt; In March of 2020, COVID shut down the world and life would never quite be the same again. Many pastors (and churches) struggled to make the necessary changes and hold onto the church family; Not knowing any more what was right and what was completely out of bounds.
By the end of the summer of 2020, Calvary Family Life Center was beginning to crumble once again; (not the building this time, but the body of believers). With a series of events and much friction and tension flowing all around, the decision was made, and Pastor Serrano moved on. From approximately October of 2020, to September of 2021, Associate Pastor John Chamberlin (and a determined group of leaders) fought the spiritual battle of a lifetime, to keep Calvary Family Life Center alive.
On September 12, 2021 Pastor Bill Harrington stepped forward to lead the next season of this great family of God. He now calls “Calvary Family Life Church” his home (his family); and we pray that one day very soon, you too will call this great body of believers, YOUR Family.
Now that we’ve reached present day in our church history, I’d like to leave you with this hope:
“May you always see in OUR Story, that though life doesn’t always go the way we plan; God is faithful to keep lifting us back to our feet. You may have some rough seasons in your history, but praise God; Now you have a family that knows all to well, how faithful God is in bringing Beauty from our ashes.”
Pastor Bill Harrington (February 2023)
***This information has been compiled from decades of church documents and public articles, as well as conversations with church members who endured and/or celebrated the many seasons of our church history.