Highway Mission Tabernacle Archive

About Highway’s Archive

Welcome to the digital archive of Highway Mission Tabernacle in Philadelphia, PA. Highway was founded in 1894 and is a member of the Assemblies of God denomination. This collection includes photos, minutes, newspapers, programs, letters, and more from across Highway’s history. If you’re looking for personal information, like membership cards or baptism records, or to suggest a correction, please contact archivist@highwaytabernacle.org. Please note that for objects without specific named dates, date ranges have been estimated. Please contact <href=”mailto:archivist@highwaytabernacle.org” title=”contact archivist@highwaytabernacle.org”>archivist@highwaytabernacle.org</a> for more detailed date information.

A Brief History of Highway Mission Tabernacle: On Thanksgiving Day, 1894, an interdenominational group came together to re-establish the Cross and Crown Association. They eventually procured a horse-drawn gospel wagon ministry that sought to reach people across the city of Philadelphia, evangelizing through prayer, scripture, and live music. In 1895, this group met on the top floor at a building at 23rd and Jefferson Streets and then moved to a building at Oxford North of Girard. During this time, they took on ministries like Sunday School, services multiple times of week, and the construction of a church religious library. The association, now renamed the Union Highway Gospel Mission, moved again to Oxford and Harvard in 1896, and in 1897, a reorganizing committee was established to transition the group from an association to a congregation. A group of seventy seven men and women came together to form the new church, the Highway Mission Tabernacle Union Undenominational church under Reverend Fred Reel.

In 1918, the congregation affiliated with the new pentecostal denomination, the Assemblies of God, becoming only the second church to join the denomination. As he grew older, Rev. Reel searched for new leadership, and in 1920, Reverend Ernest S. Williams assumed the pastorship at Highway. The mission of the gospel wagon continued, though now in an automated vehicle. In fall 1920, there was a revival in Philadelphia led by Sister Aimee McPherson, increasing curiosity in pentecostalism, and growing Highway’s population so rapidly that they had to relocate to a larger building at 19th and Green Street. In 1930, Rev. Williams resigned from the pastorship to become the General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God.

Reverend Flem Van Meter assumed the pastorship after Rev. Williams, and led the church through the Great Depression, working to keep spirits high despite unreliable income and work opportunities. In 1936, Rev. Van Meter left Highway to assume leadership in the Eastern District (now Penn-Del District) of the Assemblies of God. While his pastorship did not look exactly as he had imagined it, Rev. Van Meter helped shepherd the congregation through a difficult period, upholding the foundation for a congregation that still exists nearly a century later.

Following the departure of Rev. Van Meter in 1936, Reverend Wesley R. Steelberg assumed the pastorship, and ushered in new ministries like weekly prayer meetings and evening services, weekly “missionary hours” when letters from missionaries were read and prayed over, and a radio broadcast program to reach a broader populace. During this era, there was also the formation of a “City Missionary” role coming out of women’s Bible studies, which aimed to evangelize specifically in the city of Philadelphia, and which grew children’s ministry programs through Bible story hours. In 1943, Rev. Steelberg left the pastorship and assumed leadership roles in the Eastern District and New Jersey District before eventually becoming the General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God.

Pastorship was then assumed by Reverend Wallace Bragg, supported by Reverend George Waggoner, a missionary to India who served as Highway’s assistant pastor. Under their leadership, the Sunday School program was expanded, as were city-wide salvation campaigns and Highway’s radio broadcast. During an anniversary convention in Thanksgiving of 1943, the mortgage of the building at 19th and Green Streets was burned with much jubilation from the congregation, celebrating the new ability to give even more to missions. Rev. Bragg left Highway in 1955, eventually becoming an international evangelist.

In 1955, Reverend W. Howard Roberson assumed the pastorship, and under his leadership, several of the church’s ministries thrived, including a radio broadcast that was featured on the Assemblies of God’s national “Revivaltime” program, and a move to and renovation of a new, larger building at 18th and Spring Garden streets, the former building of the Fifth Baptist Church. In this era, the Highway Choral Group, directed primarily by vocalist Elizabeth V. McDowell, or Aunt Betty, boomed, bringing the word of God through musical worship to groups all over the region. The congregation broadly continued to support missions, but there were also special groups, like the Women’s Missionary Council, established to support missionaries not only financially, but through physical supplies and prayer. Bible education continued through the ministry of Sunday School, and youth were encouraged to become involved with programs like Christ’s Ambassadors and the Missionettes, leading to several home-grown missionaries, pastors, and evangelists. The church also became the home church for the Teen Challenge Ministry. Rev. Roberson retired in 1975 with much commendation from the congregation and, more broadly, the denomination.

In 1979, Reverend Stephen Bogdan, together with his wife, Florence Bogdan, both of whom had grown up in Highway, returned to lead the church as it went through demographic and social changes. Under their leadership, a more international and multiracial congregation developed, and new ministries for college students were established. In 1986, the building caught fire, and major portions of the sanctuary were destroyed, but, under their leadership, and with help from the community, the church was able to rebuild.

After the Bogdans’ retirement, Reverend Otto Wegner was elected pastor in 1999. Under Rev. Wegner, the congregation committed itself to neighborhood ministry. Otto’s wife, Pat Wegner, started Spring Garden Academy (SGA) which still exists today as a PreK-8 ministry. In 2008, the congregation expanded to another building at 17th and Tioga, in the Nicetown-Tioga neighborhood, where it is known as Resurrection Life Church. Rev. Wegner and the school leadership helped spearhead Next Generation Ministries (NGM), a nonprofit ministry committed to youth and young adults that continues to support community and educational opportunities in North Philadelphia.

After the Wegners left as pastors in 2010, the church continued in the Spring Garden and Nicetown-Tioga communities under the leadership of Rev. Mark and Terry Boucher, Rev. Finney and Liza Kuruvilla, and the leaders of SGA/NGM. Highway Mission Tabernacle and Spring Garden Academy currently minister to the community from the 17th and Tioga building, led by Candace Wegner, Otis A. Fortenberry, and the team of church and school leaders. Rev. Otto Wegner has continued to lend his support to Highway Tabernacle as an appointed home missionary with the Assemblies of God.

On our 130th anniversary, Highway Mission Tabernacle recognizes that we exist as part of the larger history of evangelism, prayer, and worship in Philadelphia. While buildings, ministries, and leadership have changed over time, our core values and beliefs have not. Today, we carry on this legacy by faithfully discipling a community of believers, partnering with our community, and prioritizing the ministry to children and youth through Spring Garden Academy and our recent Performing Arts initiatives. As we continue to march forward, we remember those who came before us, continuing to pave the way for God’s kingdom to grow and carry on this legacy