A LITTLE HISTORY ABOUT OUR CHURCH

Pastors Fran and Linda Gilmore met at a Church/Discipleship Training Center in Beaumont, Texas where Pastor Linda grew up. They were married there in November of 1975. After they married, they moved back to Pastor Fran’s home state of Connecticut in March of 1976. They soon moved to Vermont, found work and wanted to settle there. In the space of a couple months, the Lord spoke to them separately on the same day that they were to move back to Connecticut.

Back in Connecticut, they soon began to teach a small group of young people the Word of God in their small apartment in Coventry, Connecticut. It was a great time of fellowship, praise and worship and coming together as a group.

As the Bible studies grew a little, they met in a couple different homes until they settled for some time at a home in Hebron, Connecticut. It was here in the meetings in Hebron when the Lord spoke to the pastors, and the group, to officially become a church. It was at this point that Pastors Fran and Linda became pastors, and elders were also established. From there they rented the basement of a private school building in Mansfield Center. They then rented a hall attached to the Mansfield Center Public library, and during this time Pastors Fran & Linda were both ordained into the ministry.

The church then purchased land on South Bedlam Road in Chaplin, Connecticut in 1991. In 1995, they built their first building on the purchased land. Then in 2006, they started construction on an addition to the original building.

Then the Lord began to open doors for ministry in other countries. Short term mission work is something that God had planned for this church. It had been spoken to the church, and on the hearts of many, for several years. Abiding Word has sent Pastors Fran & Linda, and others from the church, to different countries to strengthen and teach church leaders, work with youth, and help disciple believers.

From the beginning, the pastors have always had a vision to equip the Body of Christ for the harvest. Through a balance of the teaching of the Word of God, and the moving of the Spirit of God, the people of God are able to grow into the fullness that is in Jesus Christ.

Today, Abiding Word Church is a church that seeks to train and equip God’s people to become all they are called to be in the Kingdom of God, and release them to function as servants in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Abiding Word Church is committed to training laborers for the great in-gathering of souls and the making of disciples for the glory of God.