The History of BBC
Pastor Mike Stangl had been serving as a Pastor of single adults for 7 years at the time and was called upon to lead the effort of planting a church in the Western portion of Chester County. The original idea was to maintain a mother-daughter relationship with CFC and to see the church plant as simply an extension of CFC. Mike had accepted the challenge and began working on getting a church started in the Coatesville area.
After a year and a half of preparation Calvary Fellowship Church WEST was launched in April 2002. For the next 3 years we met at South Brandywine Middle School in West Fallowfield. Some growth took place but after a few years we began to see how inadequate and difficult it was trying to grow a church with a Sunday morning only facility.
After 3 years at South Brandywine Middle School we decided to move our church to another location, the Coatesville County Club. Though it was still a Sunday only facility, it was a much nicer facility and we thought it would be more appropriate for our purposes. Unfortunately the Country Club quickly grew hesitant about having a church rent their facility each week and asked us to leave. After much searching and praying we came across our current location at the Cackleberry Farm on Rt. 30 in Parkesburg. It was a facility that could work well for us and gave us the opportunity to use it 24/7.
Unfortunately the amount of time we needed to purchase and fit out the building was much more than the time we had left at the Country Club. So, for the second time in six months, our congregation picked up and moved to another facility. This time we met at the Wagontown Fire Company. We met there for about three months while we made our permanent facility ready. Despite the fact that the alarm sounded twice during church services and we had firemen running through the room getting changed, the congregation endured and we eventually moved into our new facility with much joy.
The “barn” was ready, and in June 2006 we moved in. Though we were glad God had provided this place for us, we knew that it was not what we had in mind for a permanent home. Our ultimate desire is to have land and a building of our own that we might be free to do what’s necessary to minister to our people and the community around us.
After four years of being under the umbrella of Calvary Fellowship Church, we felt that it was time to move forward and become an independently functioning church. So, in July 2006 Calvary Fellowship Church West went independent and became Brandywine Bible Church. All of this occurred with the blessing and encouragement of CFC. Since going independent we’ve learned many new lessons and have expanded the ministry in many ways including: Hiring a full time Youth Director, financially supporting five missionaries, beginning six new ministries, and having various outreach events for the community.
The mission of our church is… “to glorify God by making fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ who impact their families, community and the world with the word of God”. A fully devoted follower is someone who glorifies God in the things they do and in the life they live. It is our ultimate desire to minister within a five mile radius of Rt. 82 and Rt. 30, and to obtain 10-12 acres which could house a facility that would consist of a 300 seat auditorium, all the attendant classrooms necessary to minister, in an area of high visibility, with a minimum of 100 parking spaces.
Our congregation is middle class, with a good mixture of younger and older. We have ministries for all children and youth and ministries for Men and Women. There are numerous small groups which meet throughout the year and many events and activities to enjoy. We feel that God has called us to minister in this area and believe he has given us the tenacity and desire to make it through the hard times and to press forward with our goals. We thank Him and look forward to many years of ministry in the area.