Marshalltown First is on the Iowa District (USA).

Marshalltown -- Iowa’s first Church of the Nazarene celebrated 100 years of worship this past weekend. According to the Times-Republican, the congregation of the First Church of the Nazarene in Marshalltown hosted General Superintendent James H. Diehl and former members from across the U.S. during its centennial and homecoming.

A fellowship buffet, centennial cake, and evening of music kicked off the celebration Saturday, August 4 with a special church service that followed Sunday morning.

“It means we’ve been around for a long time,” current senior pastor Jerry Richards told the Marshalltown newspaper about the centennial last week. “Most congregations don’t last that long. We have a rich heritage and each new generation has had to pick up the ministry and fill its place the same as the generation before them.”

The Times-Republican reported prior to the event that more than 200 current and former members of the church had already reserved spaces for a fellowship dinner at Marshalltown Community College Saturday afternoon, and they were to be joined by others for a free, public cake serving. A new centennial history DVD was also premiered at that time.

That night former minister of music Norris Teague brought together a reunion of choir members for a 90-minute performance.

The average attendance for Sunday’s service will expected to triple with the celebrants and Diehl, the featured speaker.

After starting in 1907 as a “Pentecostal Mission” joined together by a common pursuit of holiness, the Marshalltown First Church of the Nazarene met at buildings on West Church and Third streets, from 1910 to 1939, and Ninth Avenue and Bromley Street, from 1939 to 1955, before settling in at the current location, on Center and South streets, according to centennial materials. An addition was put on in 1977.

Besides Richards, pastor since 1998, only three other pastors served during the past half-century, two of them still living: Frank Cook of California, who led from 1947 to 1961, and Jerry Garmon of Marshalltown, who led from 1969 to 1998. The third was Donald Bell, pastor from 1961 to 1969.

“Things look good for the future, too,” Richards told the newspaper. “Our congregation is a very warm and welcoming group—folks that are very accepting. They love the Lord and love other people.”

--NCN News