History

In the winter of '01 the Visalia Evangelical Free Church, under the leadership of Pastor Bob Somerville, began a Bible study for a group who desired to have a church plant here in Exeter. At conception the group consisted of only 8. After several months of meeting together and plenty of prayer, the search began for a full time pastor for this small group of planters. Soon a connection was made with pastor Jim Newman who was currently pastoring at an EV Free church in Kinnelton, New Jersey. God had already been working in Pastor Jim who was desiring to move to the Central Valley in order to be nearer to his in laws. Jean, Jim's wife, grew up in Exeter. This providential match was quickly drawn and Exeter had a new pastor.

From January to April of 2002 we had regular Bible studies, developed our Mission Statement and Core Values, chose a church name and grew from 10 people to 20. We held our first Worship Service (meeting monthly) on Saturday, April 20, 2002 in the Westminster Hall of the First Presbyterian Church of Exeter, with whom we’ve enjoyed a good relationship and had 27 people in attendance. We held a Vacation Bible School in the summer of 2002 and again in 2003 with nearly 40 the first summer and almost 50 by summer 04. Weekly services began in June of 2002, still meeting Saturday evenings. With cooperation of two interim pastors of the Presbyterian Church, services were moved to Sunday mornings, first meeting in the smaller chapel, then in summer of 2003 in the main sanctuary. God has greatly blessed this church and our constant prayer is that we can be used to glorify his name by our history as a part of his Church, and through our future as we worship and share his Word with those in this community.