
In 1994, Pastor Mark O’Donnell and his family began the Community Baptist Temple in the basement of the Lake Senior Center in Uniontown, Ohio. With the nursery on the other side of a curtain, it wasn’t the most solemn or quite spot to hold church, but it was right in the center of God’s will. Sunday evening services were held in various homes where discipleship material was used to ground believers. It wasn’t long before both Sunday morning and evening services were being held in that small basement. By the end of 1994 and only nine months into the ministry, the average attendance was around 40 and the church was using the upstairs of the Center for Morning services.
The church continued to grow and God consistently blessed. With an emphasis on evangelism and outreach, the ministry saw scores of people saved through the years and many others encouraged through both the preaching and teaching ministries.
With growth came the need for more adequate facilities. Not having the money to purchase such facilities, Pastor O’Donnell and the people began to pray that God would give them a building. Not a good deal on a building, but literally give it to them debt free. God heard their cry and in April of 2000, the church moved from the Senior Center in Uniontown to it’s Canton Road location. Within the next few years, the church purchased 4 acres of ground in Lakemore for the bus ministry, built a garage and beautified the property. In 2008, the church found itself in need of further space and so, it purchased the Bedrooms Today building which allowed for the expansion of the Sunday School ministry and further outreach.
Over the last few years God has continued to bless the Church and as a result, the need for increased parking, additional classrooms and land that would accommodate future growth was realized. In December of 2011 after praying and patiently trusting God through an eighteen month process, Community Baptist Temple purchased the Carousel Dinner Theater.
In March of 2017, Community Baptist Temple officially moved into their new home, the renovated Carousel Dinner Theater. We invite you to come see this historic transformation of an iconic Akron landmark!
Only God knows what is in the future for CBT, but if the past is any indication of what He has in store, we are in for the ride of our lives.