History Of The Weirton Christian Center

On May 9, 1909—the same year that Ernest T. and David Weir and J.C. Williams founded the Weirton Steel Company—Mrs. Mollie Wilkens Owings, a local woman, organized a small Baptist Sunday School under an apple tree on Avenue B (within blocks of the new mill). This work would soon become Weirton’s First Baptist Church. A ministry had begun for all the children and their families who had come from many cities and nations to Weirton to seek a better life.

In 1917 the Women’s American Baptist Home Mission Society sent the first missionary to Weirton to work with the Baptist group to help meet some desperate community needs. Mrs. Olive Lord served as that first missionary (1917-1918) and is credited as the founder of the Weirton Christian Center. During those first five years, Christian Center activities were held in local homes and in three houses on Avenue D donated by Weirton Steel Company. Programs were set up mainly to assist the immigrants who came to work in the mill. By 1922, with assistance from Weirton Steel, the first part of the Center was erected on Avenue D (adjacent to the original First Baptist Church building).

The Weirton Christian Center soon became the “Community Center” for services that immigrants new to the area needed. They were taught English and Citizenship courses, and received immunizations at the health clinic. Over the years, Senior Citizens and other groups met in the club room, high school graduations and other events were held in the gymnasium and there was even an outdoor pool at the Christian Center. During the 1950s the Center began to emphasize individual centered programs and established outposts primarily for kindergarten in various locations in the town. The high school boys had a basketball league and the afterschool program offered dance lessons, drama and plays, formal dances, Bible Studies and more.

When kindergartens were added to the public school in the 1970s, the Center converted its kindergarten to a preschool program. In 1979 due to the declining neighborhood and the deteriorating condition of the building, the Center moved from Avenue D to its present location at 3012 Elm Street, again choosing a neighborhood of great need.

The Christian Center is a recognized mission project of the West Virginia Baptist Convention (American Baptist Churches, USA). The Center is one of the Neighborhood Action Program projects sponsored by the Board of National Ministries of the American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A. Funding for the Center comes through the West Virginia Baptist Convention and National Ministries with considerable support of the Weirton United Way as well as individuals both local and national.




The Center Today

We now offer both 3 and 4-year-old Preschool classes, led by teacher Pam Ott, and assistants Freda Dulaney and Evie Dulaney. The developmental curriculum involves hands-on stations to not only meet state standards but also reinforce Christian values. We follow the Hancock County School calendar and there is no tuition, only a one-time registration free of $25 for materials. This program is supported by our generous donors.

The Afterschool program offers a safe haven for children from kindergarten through high school. We provide snacks, homework help, tutoring and many opportunities to help them grow. Volunteers provide lessons in art, music, crafts, zumba, crochet, dance, cheering and more. Information classes with volunteer instructors are held to education them about healthy food choices, fitness, drug abuse, violence prevention, safety, self-reliance and good choices. Bible study is held once a week with each age group. We are always looking for positive adult mentors and tutors to volunteer to work with our children. With the help of several local churches (Memorial Baptist Church, Paris Presbyterian Church, Christian Church of Weirton, New Life Worship Center, and Follansbee Church of Christ, Pleasant Valley Methodist Church) we are able to provide dinner for the children on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This enables us to stay open longer and offer more programs – like practice for the “Signs of Hope” group learning sign language to Praise songs with the help of volunteer instructor, Becky Fellows.

Our summer program gives the children 5 hours a day at the center, from 11 to 4 PM. We are Able to offer educational and recreational programs that there is not time for during the school year. Theme weeks in the past have included puppetry, cheerleading, self-defense, Arts and crafts, Vacation Bible School, dance lessons and more.

Summer Church Camp is a real blessing to these children and “Jesus Loves You” scholarships have been provided by the Christian Fellowship Foundation. In 2009, there were 78 children who were able to attend at least one week of camp at Elkhorn Valley Christian Service Camp in Bergholz, Ohio and a week at Camp Cowan in Cowan, WV – shared with Dunbar Baptist Church.

Project Destiny was developed as a co-operative effort of 32 local businesses, colleges, and organizations to seek funding for educational and entrepreneurial programs that would ultimately help to alter the destinies of the children within our realm of service. As a part of this project, we have developed two entrepreneurial programs that we hope will become self-sustaining – making and selling beaded bookmarks and Spirit Sticks for local teams. The garage has just been transformed into a workshop for these projects and we are currently searching for a location for the Media Center which will train High School Students and create a means for support for the center, while helping fellow non-profit agencies.

In 2009, we had a total of 384 children through our programs. Of those, 197 were new to the Christian Center. With this phenomenal growth, we are made aware of the need for quality pre-school, afterschool and summer care for the children in our area. The Board of Directors has recently approved the start of a Building Fund to help us find a facility that will provide space enough for all programs that we offer. Please pray for the growth and development of the Weirton Christian Center ministry.