Churches With History

Hammondsport, New York

Much has already been written about Finney’s great revival in Rochester, New York, where he preached almost a hundred sermons in six-months, between September 10, 1830, and March 6, 1831. It was certainly the high watermark of his ministry and should be included here as the crescendo to his work in the burned-over area. Rather than reviewing all the facts of the story, allow me to share some things I think are noteworthy, which may inspire you to read Finney’s account for yourself.

The population of Rochester would increase by two-thirds during the revival with people coming in from the surrounding areas, such as Buffalo, Lockport, Brockport, Palmyra, and Canandaigua. The news of what God was doing in this small city was carried by Christian newspapers across the country. The ripple effect of the meetings was felt as far away as Bath and Hammondsport, New York, where new churches were being established, made up of fresh converts from the Rochester revival.

I read where people said they could feel the presence of the Lord for about forty or fifty miles around Rochester. When you read the history of the Presbyterian churches throughout Western New York, you can see how far reaching this ripple effect was.

The Presbyterian Church in Hammondsport was started in 1831, as a direct result of the revival in Rochester. The church faithfully served the community until it finally closed in 2023. The prayerfully gave the church building to WellSpring Fellowship in the hopes of seeing it serve the next generation of hungry hearts.

Geneva, New York

Geneva Revival

A NEW DAY FOR AN HISTORIC CHURCH

There is something exciting about an established church with a rich history coming into newness of life. That is what is happening with Faith Community Church, coming together with WellSpring Fellowship of Penn Yan, in order to reach the city of Geneva for Christ.

In the spring of 1831, evangelist Charles G. Finney came to Geneva fresh from the Rochester revival, which had taken place throughout the previous winter. For six months Finney had preached several times a day, often leaving the city on horseback to visit area towns to win the lost and strengthen the local churches. It was reported that everyone could feel the presence of the Lord for about thirty miles around the city. People came to Rochester from all over the State, including Geneva, Bath, Hammondsport, Penn Yan, Watertown, and Buffalo, eventually adding nearly 100,000 souls to the Kingdom of God from Central New York.

Finney’s health had been poor much of the time while he was laboring in Rochester, due to excessive preaching and prayer. Local doctors predicted that he would die as soon as he left town. Finney made it as far as Geneva by stagecoach, but the rough roads almost did him in. He moved on to nearby Auburn, where he was able to regain some strength before heading back to Geneva on his way to Buffalo. In Geneva, he was asked to conduct a three-day meeting for the First Presbyterian church, located where it is today. The entire area had already been saturated by the revival in Rochester the winter before. A number of churches grew out of the three days of meetings, including the Second Presbyterian Church. It thrived under the evangelistic efforts of pastor William Hogarth, who had himself joined the church during the Finney meetings at First Presbyterian.

It grew so much that, by 1876, they had built a large stone building on Lewis Street and changed their name to North Presbyterian Church.

Like all revivals, it served its generation, but gradually it began to subside and the church went into a slow decline. In the 1970’s, the First Presbyterian Church merged with the North Presbyterian Church, and the building was sold to Triumphant Faith Church, a young Spirit-filled church under the leadership of Pastor Mark Ammerman. It would eventually become Faith Community Church, which he pastored for forty-five years before retiring in the fall of 2023.

Part of Pastor Mark’s vision for the large stone building was to help other churches become established in Geneva, which was how they first become connected to WellSpring Fellowship, from nearby Penn Yan. WellSpring had been looking for a place to hold meetings so they could reach out to Geneva, and began to rent from Faith Community in September 2022.

When Pastor Mark retired, he turned the church over to Pastor Michael Cavanaugh, an old friend from Elim Fellowship, who helped the congregation navigate the challenging transition of finding a new pastor. It was Pastor Cavanaugh who encouraged them to become part of WellSpring Fellowship, which they did in October 2023, when they invited Pastor Penn Clark to lead them into their next phase of growth. After six months, Pastor Nelson Miller was set in as the new pastor. WellSpring sent about twelve families with Pastor Miller to help the church grow again.

Today, we are looking to God to bring revival to the Geneva area again, just as He did in the days of Finney.

Faith Community Church, is located at 90 Lewis Street, Geneva, NY 14456

You can follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/fccgeneva/

We live-stream each Sunday morning at 10:00.

Our website is located at www.fccgeneva.com

Brownville, New York

Brownville Revival

A “commodious stone building” was erected in the village of Brownville, New York, between 1818-1823, making it the oldest church building in Jefferson County. Originally, it was shared by all the churches in the village. In 1826 it was purchased by the Episcopal Church, who faithfully served this community until November 2021.

In November 1823, a young evangelist named Charles G. Finney, came to Brownville, following signs of revival that had begun to manifest here. Being snow-bound for the entire winter, he labored in this building, both in preaching and in prayer, until April 1824.

Fast forwarding to 2024, we plan to rent the former St. Paul’s Episcopal Church for the winter, with the idea of hosting prayer meetings and doing various kinds of outreaches, to see if a new church can be established in Brownville. We believe that by starting by building a house of prayer is the key to opening the heavens once again, so this community can experience a fresh outpouring of grace. If you would like more information about this, contact Brad and Nicole Berry, (315) 783-9583, and they will let you know what is currently happening in this historic old building on Washington Street in Brownville. Would you join us in praying for this?

The GPS Address: 212 Washington St. Brownville, NY 13615 You can keep up with our service times by finding us on Facebook.