Power of God church moves to new location in Oakland Township
OAKLAND TWP — “From a tavern to a temple” is the saying at the Power of God Pentecostal Church's new location.
The phrase is fitting because the small church moved from a basement in Butler to a former tavern in Oakland Township.
The church closed on its discounted $50,000 purchase of a building at 797 Oneida Valley Road that housed a bar on one side and a video poker business on the other side.
“’From a tavern to a temple’ is our new catch phrase,” Pastor Dan Anthony said.
He said he moved from his hometown of Titusville in Crawford County to start the church.
“I was born and raised there. I came to Butler just to start a church. It's my only connection to the city,” Anthony said. “When we started this we didn’t know a single soul in the city.”
The church was in the basement of 222 W. Cunningham St. from April 14, 2012 until December 2021 when the church began moving into its new building.
“We rented room in the basement for nine and a half years,” Anthony said.
Services are held at the new location Tuesday and Saturday evenings while the building is being renovated into a place of worship and prayer.
“It's an active construction zone. We've got it cleared out enough to hold some services,” Anthony said.
The church has a dozen members, but Anthony said the relocation has attracted interest in the church, and he expects the congregation to grow when the work on the new church is complete. The goal is to host a grand opening and open house in March and then celebrate the church's 10-year anniversary on April 14, he said.
Other churches and people from across the country donated the money needed to buy the building.
He said the former property owners, who owned the site since 2006, deeply discounted the sale price so the church could buy it with the money it had.
“We've got a small congregation. We have a small budget. We didn't have enough for a down payment. We shared word online. In less than four weeks, we raised over $50,000 for the purchase,” Anthony said. “It's humbling and exciting.”
