How it all began…

“Mighty oaks from little acorns grow.” Cambria Heights was ‘birthed’ from an initial core of two couples (Lubric & Barbara Johnson and Martin and Nerma Tinker) and their four children, who met for Bible Study in the living room of Brother Lubric Johnson in the fall of 1973. They were subsequently joined by a number of believers who were travelling far distances to meetings in the Bronx, White Plains, Brooklyn, and Manhattan, and before long a regular mid-week Bible Study was established.
Among the ‘pioneers’ were Sister Viola McGrath, Donald and Gwen Bonner, Brothers Davidson, Lloyd Allwood, Horatio Bryan, Lester Collimore, and Reggie Warren. Energized by this new mid-week Bible Study, Brother Horatio Bryan seized the moment and began a Sunday School in the basement of his home Inevitably, the idea of starting a new work in the Cambria Heights area started to mushroom. Brother Bryan offered his basement as a temporary meeting place and within three months the Bible Study joined the Sunday School at that location.
In October 1973 the idea of an evangelical outreach was placed on the table and a “Crusade for Christ” committee was launched in collaboration with the United Assemblies of New York. Months of planning resulted in a two-week crusade in August 1974. This was held in a vacant supermarket building, where, under the preaching of Evangelists T.C. Taylor and Arts Billops, over sixty persons made profession of faith in Christ Jesus. On October 13, 1974, the first set of converts were baptised at Galilee Gospel Chapel.
With the realization that these babes in Christ had to be nurtured, it was the general consensus that a new Assembly should be established. With God’s enabling, the gathering left the supermarket and started meeting in a rented, unheated store. Soon after, through the sacrificial giving of the saints, and assistance from Steward Foundation the present lot at Linden Boulevard and 221st Street was acquired and has since been the permanent home of Cambria Heights Gospel Chapel.