| * OUR HISTORY: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 Our thanks and sincere appreciation go to all that helped make this history possible. Sister Helen Carl, Lola Bates, Hattie Carrigan, Bernice Leenders, Rev. Leonard Nipper, Rev. James Pryor, Tom Irwin, Ed von Delden, Alline Grim, Deborah Coloma, Raul Cardona, Mack & Lucille Alford, Warren & Clara Hodges, Jerry & Cheri Steinker, Dennis Burke, Vava Duran, Preston & Louise Haag, Willa Dean Burrow, Edna Ezell. Special thanks to John Roberts for the use of his VCR and the video of the Ezell's 50th Anniversary / 70th Birthday celebration as well as several videos of interviews done after the home going of Pastor H. W. Ezell. Our History - Chapter 1
"In the Beginning" (1930-1935) It was somewhere on Avalon Boulevard south of Anaheim Street, in an old building, which had once been a theater, that four couples began meeting to worship the Lord. The year was perhaps 1930 or '31. They had cleaned the old structure, which was now their place of worship, and put in wide benches for people to sit on. From this simple and obscure beginning grew the church which is now one of the largest and most dynamic Assemblies of God churches in the Los Angeles-South Bay area, Harbor Christian Center. Sister Helen Carl remembers ministering in what was then called "Ye Old Time Gospel Mission" for a period of about 18 months, beginning in 1932. Those who came to hear this young woman of God preach were as unassuming as their surroundings. Drunks and street people often came in to hear the Gospel message. It would have been a challenging group for any pastor, but it was made even more so by the construction of the benches on which her little congregation sat. When someone came in during the sermon and sat down on one end of a bench, the opposite end would tilt upward, causing no small distraction for those in the middle! In spite of all this, there were those who were Born Again, and the seed of the Word was sown...a seed that would in time bear much fruit. After about 18 months, Pastor and Mrs. McLain became the shepherds of this little flock, and during their pastorate the church moved to another location farther north on Avalon Boulevard. Pastor and Mrs. Martin followed them. Under their ministry, a large tent was set up next to an unpaved road (Blinn Avenue) near Anaheim Street in east Wilmington. A series of Revival meetings were held, and the Lord blessed the faithfulness of Pastor Martin, for at the end of the Revival, the congregation was able to rent and move into a large building which became their church home. The building, which at one time had been a grocery store, provided ample room for the growing congregation. Behind the store and connected to it by a sidewalk were four  small buildings which had been used as motel rental units. They were just perfect for Sunday School rooms, while the store became the main auditorium. The little congregation went to work on the old frame building, remodeling it, building a platform and covering it with carpet, bringing in benches and a piano. Attendance was growing, and many children came to the Sunday School classes.In December of 1935, Pastor & Mrs. Martin resigned and Norman and Helen Carl became the new pastors of this pioneering work in East Wilmington. |
HARBOR CHRISTIAN CENTER |
