Our History
The History of First
Assembly of God, Oskaloosa, IA
In 1926, Mr. and Mrs. Dan
Whitsel and family came to
Oskaloosa, Iowa from the
Northwest. They began to
inquire about a Pentecostal
Church and minister.
Seeking out given information of
possible ministers and locations
only brought disappointments.
A Newton, Iowa newspaper fell
into Mr. Whitsel's hands and it
was there he read about a
Pentecostal revival conducted in
Monroe, Iowa by Rev. Frank and
Edith Cline. At this time,
Rev. W.E. Longdin, pastor of the
Assembly of God in Knoxville,
came to Oskaloosa to hold
services in the homes of
interested people, especially
the Whitsel's home. Help
to continue these meetings had
been requested of the District,
but were informed that funds
were depleted because of the
recent donation to Central Bible
Institute.
While in the Northwest, Mr.
Whitsel received a call and had
a vision from God to preach the
Gospel. God had showed him
to a field of garnered wheat and
only a few sheaves of wheat was
left in the corners for him to
garner. The field of wheat
was the souls of men to be
garnered into the Kingdom.
With that burden on his heart
and since moving to Oskaloosa,
he wanted to do just that.
He took out ordination papers
with "The Church of God,
Cleveland, Tenn."
Due to financial problems, he
felt he could not go full time
in the ministry but his heart
was in the work so he mortgaged
his home and bought a
tent. In the summer, he
would invite different ministers
as well as himself to hold tent
meetings. He pitched the
tent in Fremont, Iowa and
Northern Missouri areas.
Rev. Charles Plotts and others
preached there. Many folk
were saved and filled with the
Holy Ghost, such as Eskie
Clevenger's folks who were
nearby farmers.
One Sunday afternoon, Mr.
Whitsel hitched-hiked to Monroe
to see the Clines' about
conducting services in
Oskaloosa. Rev. Frank
Cline was holding services in
Eldon, Iowa at this time.
In 1928, the Cline's family
of six and their piano player,
Archie Pickrow from Leon, Iowa
made their home with the
Whitsel's in the big two story
home on North 3rd Street.
Mr. Whitsel ran a shoe repair
shop while his wife and daughter
ran a small grocery store east
of the house. The tent was
pitched on the corner of South
4th Street and 6th Avenue
East. The meetings began
on July 22nd with large crowds
attending and the interest was
good.
Mary was a senior in High
School and to get a Church
established in Oskaloosa it took
the money her parents had saved
to send her to Evangel College
in Springfield, Mo., and also
the savings of the little
grocery store they ran.
The meetings came to a close
to soon and the interest was
great but the District had
called a special meeting in Des
Moines which the Cline's deemed
to attend. During this
meeting, Mary Whitsel and Corney
Langstraat became acquainted and
later married. Rev.
Stanley Comstock, pastor of
Knoxville, officiated at the
wedding.
In the fall of 1928, the hall
at Layton Music Store, now part
of Penn Central Mall was rented
for $22.00 per month. The
Clines stayed until spring,
living on North First
Street. Shortly after they
left, one day a young preacher
came into the Whitsels' Shoe
Repair Shop saying the Lord had
sent him to Oskaloosa. The
preacher "Rev. Theodore
Gannon" had heard the voice
of the Lord impressing on him
the need to come to
Oskaloosa. It was 10
degrees below zero
weather. All the money he
had in his pocket was $1.00 and
his shoe soles were worn
out. His father being a
railroad man secured a pass for
his travels. He stayed for
three months and later became
the West Central District
Superintendent and Director of
Home Missions in Springfield,
MO. Other ministers came
after that, Stanley Comstock,
Bessie Downing and Nellie Cox.
Meetings continued in homes
for a time and services were
held in a hall at First Avenue
West. In 1932, Mr. Whitsel
secured a small church on North
E Street which was sold and the
money was invested in a
tent. Rev. Taylor Stark
purchased the tent and held
meetings in both Oskaloosa and
Grinnell areas.
In 1935, Rev. A.B. Sorenson
was conducting revival services
for his brother-in-law Rev.
Ralph McCaulley. Rev.
Sorenson had come from Scranton,
Kansas where he had pastored the
Assembly of God Church there.
At this time, Mr. John Kuiper
owned some lots of South First
and Eighth Avenue East that were
vacant.
After the meeting in New
Sharon, Rev. Art Sorenson came
to Oskaloosa and conducted a
tent meeting on the vacant lots,
with the tent furnished by Mr.
Whitsel.
After there had been
several ministers, some free and
independent, the local group
decided to get someone who was
established for the work to go
on.
Rev. Art Sorenson was
ordained in the Assembly of God.
Meetings were held in the
tent until the weather turned
cold.
Rev. Art Sorenson and LeRoy
Williams heard of an old garage
building in Deep River that was
for sale.
After working hours, both
men drove to Deep River to
examine the building, finding
enough material to build a
tabernacle 40 by 60 feet.
Mr. Alvin Shroyer’s
father signed a note for $200.00
making the money available to
buy the building.
The old building was torn
down and the lumber moved to the
sight 118 8th Avenue
East where the tabernacle was
constructed.
Rejected tile from the
tile plant at Harvey, Iowa was
used to lay the foundation.
Native cottonwood lumber
was used for the seats from the
sawmill at Tracy, Iowa from John
Ray. Latter part of November, services began in the tabernacle
that had a sawdust floor.
The building was heated
by two old furnaces from Harry
Suiter, who was Rev. Art
Sorenson’s employer.
Mary Sorenson (Rev.
Sorenson’s wife) picked
chickens at the poultry house
and canned tomatoes at the
canning factory while her
husband walked three miles to
work in Ellis Coal Mine and
later worked for Harry Suiter
putting in furnaces.
Robert Scott was the
first janitor.
In 1939, Rev. A. Sorenson
and family moved to Washington,
Indiana.
On July 18, 1937, the local
church was organized by the
District Superintendent Rev. Roy
Scott with 42 members.
Serving on the board at
that time were: LeRoy Williams,
L.C. Sorenson (Rev. Sorenson’s
father), Corney Langstraat, and
Hattie Sherod as
Secretary-Treasurer.
After Hattie moved to
Newton in 1939, Mary Langstraat
was elected Secretary-Treasurer
of which she served six years as
Secretary and 22 years as
Treasurer.
Pastors that followed were:
Rev. and Mrs. Calvin Davis
(1939-1940), Rev. and Mrs.
Everet Schoonover (1940-1941),
and Rev. and Mrs. James Hosier
(1941-1944).
Rev. and Mrs. Stanley Clarke
came in 1944 and built the first
part of the structure of the
church on 3rd Avenue
West and South D in 1945, a 36
by 72 foot building with full
basement at the cost of $15,000.
The money was secured
from the revolving loan fund in
Springfield, Mo., the West
Central District, and the
father-in-law of Rev. Stanley
Clarke.
Rev. Clarke remained one
year after the church was
completed as he was voted in as
District Superintendent of the
West Central District of the
Assemblies of God.
Rev. and Mrs. David Hastie
came to accept the pastorate on
June 23, 1946 and stayed until
July 21, 1947.
During their stay the
church was gutted by fire and
the services were held in the
YMCA rooms.
The church suffered a set
back because of this, with an
annual Sunday School attendance
down to 64 people.
Rev. and Mrs. Max Johnson
came to be our pastors, and
their first service in Oskaloosa
was August 17, 1947. Some of the things accomplished under their ministry: All new
sidewalks were constructed and
trees from property were
removed.
The furnace was repaired,
the building was painted to
cover the smoke damage, and the
insurance monies came for the
fire settlement.
Ten Sunday School were
constructed in the basement, as
there had been none up to now.
Broter Manges (Eloise
Shroyer’s father), Alfred
Weddell (Mayme Hale’s father)
and Rev. Johnson went to Cedar
Rapids to get blocks for the
Sunday School rooms.
The upstairs auditorium
was furnished with new pews.
The increase in Sunday
School attendance prompted the
building of a basement annex
west of the church and a new gas
furnace was installed.
The resident’s house
west of the church was purchased
for $5,500. In 1959 the super-structure added to the front of the Church.
New pews installed and a
small furnace was installed in
the north part of the Church.
On October 12, 1959, the new
addition and improvements were
dedicated by Rev. Stanley Clarke
now from Brainerd, Minnesota,
Rev. Art Sorenson, and Rev. T.E.
Gannon as guest speaker.
Rev. and Mrs. Johnson served
as our pastors for 28 years.
Under their ministry the
church grew numerically,
financially and especially
spiritually.
They were loved by all.
Rev. and Mrs. John Wibley
arrived in Oskaloosa in 1975
with Rev. and Mrs. Keith
Roman’s assisting.
During the pastorate of Rev.
John Wibley, the present church
was built on Highway 23 South,
with the first services held in
March of 1977.
May 30, 1977 the
beautiful church was dedicated
by the District Superintendent
of Iowa’s Assembly of God
Churches, Rev. Allan Ullestad.
With facilities designed
to make participation in worship
convenient and comfortable, the
church’s ministry continues to
meet the spiritual, educational,
physical, and social needs of
this community.
The Wibley’s left in
1978, accepting the pastorate in
Worcester, Mass.
Rev. and Mrs. Charles
Harrison came to Oskaloosa as
our pastors in February of 1979
with the assistants Rev. and
Mrs. Mark VanGorp and Rev. and
Mrs. Dennis Martin
Rev. and Mrs. Jeff Chatham
arrived in 1983 with Rev. John
and Karol Rockwell assisting.
They left in 1987.
Rev. Harold and Nan Schutte
became our pastors in February
1987. A new zeal and
anointing of God's power has
been refreshing since their
coming. A new mind and
interest for revival spirit is
in the air. Yes, First
Assembly of God presents a
Christ-centered, Bible -
oriented message with the mighty
baptism, looking for the Blessed
Hope, the rapture of the church,
the soon coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
