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History
The Venice Bible Church was founded in 1959, and has had a long rich history
of ministry in the Venice area. Visit the History
Photo Gallery.
1960 to 1970
The Venice Bible Church was founded by Pastor and
Mrs. Paul Kreft in 1959. Paul and Florence had received their training at Moody
Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois and had ministered with Highway &
Hedges Crusaders for Christ. Spending their winters in Osprey, Florida, a desire
grew within them to start an independent church, "denominational
unaffiliated, holding faithfully without reservations to the fundamental
doctrines of the Bible." He discussed his plan with Dr. Jarl Malwin, a
local dentist, and they secured a meeting place for the services. They signed a
one year lease with total rent for the year of $750.
The first meeting was held January 11, 1959 at
270 South Tamiami Trail on the corner of Miami Ave. and U.S. 41 in Venice. An
offering box was placed in the rear of the church, and trusting the Lord to meet
the financial need, no less than 20 percent of the offerings went to support
missionary endeavors. Pastor Kreft faithfully presented Bible centered messages
at all three weekly meetings while his wife served as the church’s pianist.
They often sang duets at the meeting, with Paul playing the miniature guitar and
Florence playing her accordion. The Krefts pastored the church from January 1959
until April 1962. At this time the Lord called them into full time missionary
work among the migrant farm laborers in the South Eastern United States. During
these first years there was no church membership, but a strong fellowship had
grown.
In April of 1962 Pastor Byron Richardson became
our pastor. He was the former President of Atlanta Bible Institute, currently
serving as Pastor of Oneco Baptist Church, and was well known as a Bible
expositor. He served as our pastor from April 1962 until February 1964. While
Pastor Richardson was our minister the Venice Bible Church was formally
incorporated with the folllowing thirty-one members in 1963: Mr. & Mrs. Paul
Kreft, Dr. & Mrs. Jarl Malwin, Pastor & Mrs. Byron Richardson, Mr. &
Mrs. Jack Hill, Mr. & Mrs. Billy Allison, Mr. & Mrs. Webb Chenault, Mr.
William McAdoo, Mr. Robert Henriques, Mrs. Chlorene Blades, Mrs. Mary Kish, Mr.
& Mrs. Paul Troy, Pastor & Mrs. Bernard Ward, Mr. & Mrs. Clifford
Sherman, Mr. Craig Thompson, Mrs. Dorothy Thompson, Mr. Marvin Zeigler, Mrs.
Nina Johnson, Mr. James Lindeman, Mr. & Mrs. George Alexander, Miss Mary
Boone and Miss Merrily Brown.
In August 1963 the Lord led Dr. Jarl Malwin into
a youth ministry which became closely affiliated with the ministry of the Venice
Bible Church. Since the church had no youth program at that time, the Monday
Night Bible classes at Doc and Bev’s home provided an outreach for teenagers.
These classes, which became the Monday Night Power and Light meetings, reached
hundreds of Venice teenagers for the Lord and channeled many of them to the
Venice Bible Church where they studied the Bible under our capable pastors and
teachers and matured in their faith. Some of these men became Elders and Deacons
in the church. Five of these young people accepted Christ as their personal
Savior and were sent out as overseas missionaries from Venice Bible Church:
Jeanne Best–New Guinea, Scott Hill–Spain, Joe Henriques–Portugal, Bob
Henriques–Guatemala, and Jeff Trueman–Italy.
Pastor Bernard Ward became our pastor in February
1964 and served our church faithfully until December 1966. During his ministry
the little church on the Trail grew to a congregation of 70. At this time, Mr.
& Mrs. Clyde Higel of Venice donated the land on Shamrock Drive for our
church buildings. The triangle of land they donated was bounded on the west by
Shamrock Drive, on the south by Flower Road, and on the east by a large drainage
ditch. Our first sanctuary building was constructed by Bailey Jones for $26,600.
The last service held at 270 South Tamiami Trail was on May 29, 1966, the Sunday
before a hurricane struck Venice, wrecking the structure that had housed Venice
Bible Church for seven years. The church property had all been moved before the
storm, so there was no loss. On June 5, 1966 our first service was held on
Shamrock Drive.
Pastor Byron Richardson returned as our Pastor in
January 1967 and served until September of 1968. During this time a wing was
added to the north side of the church to supply classroom space. The addition
was constructed by the men of the church at a cost of $12,000. In 1967, Bob
& Ann Henriques became the first missionary couple to be delegated by the
Venice Bible Church to serve in a foreign land, Panama. During the summers of
1968 and 1969, Joe Henriques assumed the responsibilities of youth director.
Pastor Raymond Rose was called as our first
full-time pastor in September 1968. He was also the first paid pastor. He served
until January 1975.
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