A Church Built Around the Word for Unconditional Love
Agape Worship Center sits on West Street in Bloomfield, New Jersey, a few steps from the heart of Essex County. Its name comes from the Greek word "agape," the New Testament term for God's unconditional love, and that idea runs through everything the congregation does. Pastors Anthony and Patricia Ventola, who gave their lives to Christ in December 1976, planted the church in 1996 and have built it into a thriving, multi-generational body that reaches both the inner cities and the surrounding suburbs of northern New Jersey.
From a Rented Sunday Room to a Blooming Congregation
The Ventolas began with a handful of parishioners, holding services in a small church they rented in nearby Clifton on Sunday mornings and Tuesday evenings. Within two years the young church had grown enough to purchase and renovate its own building on 37 West Street in Bloomfield, which remains the home of Agape today. The church office and mailing address are next door at 33 West Street.
Four decades after its founding, the church's vision is still simple: "To be a bible believing community of believers that will accept the challenge of taking the word of salvation throughout our community and the world," and its mission is "To win the lost and disciple them to become followers of Jesus Christ."
What a Sunday Morning Looks Like
Visitors who arrive at 9:00 AM on a Sunday will find the Upper Room Prayer Ministry already gathering to seek the Lord together before the service. The main worship service begins at 10:00 AM, with prayer, contemporary praise and worship, and Bible-based teaching aimed at helping each person "grow in their walk with the Lord." Deaconess Cathy Roman oversees the Worship Ministry and leads the congregation into song; she is also a teacher of God's Word with a prophetic gift of worship. Deaconess Dee Rodriguez leads worship as well, playing the tambourine and overseeing the Hospitality Team. Deaconess Roe Ventola oversees the Greeters and the Dance Ministry, while Deacon Mike Ventola sings with the Worship Team and Choir.
Children from birth through age 12 are welcomed into The Master's Children's Ministry, led by Veronika Yarleque. At 9:00 AM, kids can join Breakfast Club, where they eat breakfast, play, and watch a movie while parents attend morning prayer. Children's Church begins at 10:00 AM, with age-appropriate Bible lessons, activities, and videos that help kids apply Scripture to daily life. Childcare is provided every Sunday and Wednesday for children from birth through twelve years old.
A Full Week of Prayer and Gathering
Sunday is the center, but the church's calendar fills most evenings of the week:
- Tuesday Morning Prayer at 10:00 AM gathers adults who want to start the day in the presence of the Lord.
- Wednesday Mid-Week Service begins with prayer at 7:00 PM and worship at 7:30 PM. The Master's Children meet at the same time for games and crafts designed around the Word of God.
- The Wave, the Sold Out Youth Ministry, meets every other Friday at 7:30 PM for ages thirteen and up, under the direction of Assistant Pastor Vincent Scuttaro. Each gathering includes activities, prayer, energetic praise and worship, and a teaching from the Word, with monthly outings and music and drama teams that travel and minister in the community.
- Men of Vision, the men's ministry led by Jason Esteves, gathers on the third Thursday of each month at 7:30 PM to encourage men of all ages and backgrounds to grow as priests of their households, innovators in their communities, and godly leaders in church, business, and government.
- Heart to Heart Women's Ministry, led by Deaconess Cathy Roman, meets on the first Friday of every other month at 7:30 PM in the church fellowship hall, with outside activities like bowling and dining out woven in to build closer friendships.
- Upper Room Prayer Ministry, directed by Josephine ("Sister JoJo") Faliveno, also meets for prayer at the church on Sundays at 8:15 AM and Wednesdays at 7:00 PM, interceding for the pastors, leaders, community, state, nation, and world.
Beliefs Rooted in the Trinity and the Gifts of the Spirit
Agape Worship Center holds to a classical evangelical confession of faith. The church believes in one living and true God, eternal, infinite in power and goodness, the Creator and preserver of all. It affirms the divine nature of Jesus Christ, God's only Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, fully God and fully man, who rose from the dead and ascended into heaven in victory over sin and Satan. It confesses the Holy Spirit as the third person of the Trinity who gives power to live a holy life and guides believers into truth, and calls the Spirit's presence "what makes Agape Worship Center unique."
The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments together constitute the Holy Bible, "inspired by the Holy Spirit and inerrant," with no books to be added or deleted. Salvation is the free gift of God, received by faith in Jesus Christ who died as the substitute for sinners; no amount of good works or self-improvement can earn it. The church also teaches that the Gifts of the Spirit are "available and operable" in the present-day church and in everyday life, exercised in love and for the building up of the body of Christ.
Core Values: Worship, Honor, Diversity, and Fresh Starts
Eleven core values shape the culture at Agape. Worship is described as a lifestyle, not just a song. Honor means celebrating others with uncommon appreciation. Family, evangelism, unity, diversity, generosity, serving, restoration, and excellence round out the list, and the final one is simply "Fun": the church "believes that everything goes better with a smile, that God's joy is our strength, and that laughter does the heart good like a medicine." The church is intentionally multicultural, drawing together "people of different walks of life" and "different nationalities" into a single house that loves God, loves people, and serves the world.
Reaching Far Beyond West Street
From its earliest days Agape has worked to take the Gospel well past its own zip code. Its TV Ministries broadcast services on cable channels across Northern and Central New Jersey, reaching over one hundred cities. Services are also livestreamed on the church's Facebook page and YouTube channel, and the YouTube library hosts an archive of faith-filled messages. A unique feature is the Live Text Caption and Translation Service, which lets worshippers read what is spoken from the pulpit in almost any language, in real time. Outreach, in the church's vocabulary, is evangelism: members step into the highways and byways to share the Gospel, while the Care Team welcomes new believers after they make a profession of faith.
A Spanish-Speaking Sister Congregation
Bloomfield's Hispanic community is served through Casa De Fi, a sister congregation pastored by Rev. Ramón Mena and operating under the apostolic covering of Pastor Anthony Ventola. Agape also extends its covering to Unconditional Love Christian Fellowship in West Orange, pastored by Rev. Greg Boyle, making the Bloomfield campus a small network of connected ministries across Essex County.
The Pastoral Team
Rev. Anthony S. Ventola serves as Senior Pastor and is gifted in the prophetic and in healing ministry. He is the Northeast Director for Harvest International Ministerial Fellowship (H.I.M.F.) and is licensed and ordained under the covering of Pastor/Dr./Bishop Manon Gurley, Presiding President and Apostolic Overseer of H.I.M.F. and Senior Pastor of Tabernacle Church in Laurel, Maryland. His wife Patricia serves as Co-Pastor.
Rev. Vincent Scuttaro, ordained and installed as Assistant Pastor in 2022, is a graduate of Nyack College (BA in Psychology, 2016) and the church's Youth Minister. Rev. Marcus Diaz serves as Associate Pastor of Music & Media, alongside his wife Rev. Alexis Diaz, and together they lead worship and outreach. Deaconess Cathy Roman oversees the Worship Ministry and Prayer Team. Deaconess Dee Rodriguez leads Hospitality, Audio, and worship on the tambourine. Deacon Mike Ventola and Deaconess Roe Ventola have served the Lord since 1976 and have been with Agape since its 1996 founding, and together oversee worship, choir, greeters, and dance.
Practical Details for First-Time Visitors
Agape is wheelchair accessible, with a lift unit that opens into the sanctuary and handicap-accessible restrooms on site, plus on-street parking when needed and two church parking lots. Worship is contemporary and charismatic, blending praise, prayer, preaching, and an expectation that lives will be changed. Visitors are warmly welcomed whether they are lifelong Christians or have never been to church before; the church's own description is that anyone who comes will be "loved on unconditionally" and will "feel God's love and presence." Dress is come-as-you-are, families are welcome, and childcare is provided every Sunday and Wednesday for children from birth to age twelve.
The church office is open Tuesday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM at 33 West Street. The phone line is 973-429-1100, the fax is 973-429-7173, and the email is agapeworshipctr@aol.com. Giving is accepted in person by cash, check, or credit card during any service or at the office, and online through the church's giving portal. The congregation also supports the church through Amazon Smile and Goodshop, and the office can direct newcomers to any of the more than a dozen serving teams, from Prayer and Outreach to Children's Church, Sound, Camera, Overhead, Cleaning, and Ushers, where volunteers are always welcome.