History
A Brief History of Christian Life Church
The Christian Life Church is located at 207 Broad Street in Waverly, NY. The building, Capitol Theater with a detached row of storefronts and apartments with an entrance located on the corner of the block and a curved marquee, was built in 1926 for 2.5 million dollars by M. E. Comerford Amusement Co. on a lot purchased after the buildings previously there burned down. The Capitol seated 1,472 including the balcony and had a stage with one screen. It was a big town theater in a small town. There are still many today who recall going to the theater.
Undated photograph of the old Waverly, NY Capitol Theatre.
Recent photograph of the Christian Life Church, Waverly, NY.
The theater was sold by Comerford’s successors to the Capital Assembly of God church, an independent church, in 1972. For some time, the church worshiped in the main theater area using the stage for the pulpit; however, reportedly, heating the space was challenging and at some point in time, the congregation moved their worship services to the large room in the storefront, “The Little Chapel.” This room reportedly housed a pharmacy originally. Early on, there was also a school at the church. In 1999, the church changed its name to Christian Life Church.
During the pastorate from 1982-2004 of Curt Carter with his contractor background, many changes were made including closing in the storefront windows, redoing the marque with the added steeple with cross, restoring some of the railings and interior decorations, and sectioning off the back portion of the theater under the balcony adjacent to the corner entrance to create a sanctuary consisting of 300 seats to name a few.
In July 2021, the church began allowing The Bridge of the Penn-York Valley Churches, of which they are a member church, to use parts of the building for ministry. It provided the Bridge with a much-needed central office and meeting space as well as overflow space for the Valley Food Pantry and Helping Hands furniture ministry. It also made a new ministry, Eldercare, possible in 2022. In July 2024, after the rented Helping Hands building at Quinlan’s was sold, the overflow space became the primary space for the furniture ministry. The overflow for Valley Food Pantry was relocated to Valley United Presbyterian Church allowing things to be shuffled around providing dedicated space for medical equipment and a conference room.
The current congregation is small, but faithful. The church remains independent. Sunday services are held each week at 11 a.m. Doug Paul currently preaches God’s Word weekly.
Christian Life Church would like to expand on this historical record. Please send any insights you might have about the history of the building and/or the congregation to christianlifewaverly@gmail.com.