Forty-Five Years on Shaffer Road
Tucked into the rolling landscape of Center Township in Beaver County, Aliquippa Christian Assembly has stood at 166 West Shaffer Road for more than three decades. The congregation grew out of a small fellowship that began meeting in 1980, and what started as thirteen people in a red brick storefront has become a steady presence for families in Aliquippa and the surrounding communities. The church is known locally for steady Bible teaching, an emphasis on reaching the unchurched, and a willingness to roll up its sleeves for neighbors in need through a Monday jail ministry and a tri-annual clothing outreach.
From a Little Red Brick Church to the Building on the Hill
The story of Aliquippa Christian Assembly begins on a June morning in 1980, when a young man was invited to guest preach at a small red brick church at 2105 Main Street in Aliquippa. He came with his wife, preached with passion, and was asked to stay a few weeks longer. The weeks turned into years. Pastor John J. Bannon and his wife Roberta accepted the call and began to nurture a flock of thirteen members.
Bannon's teaching style and disciple-making drew people in, and the little storefront congregation outgrew its walls. In April 1992, the church opened the building on West Shaffer Road that the congregation still calls home. For the next twenty-six and a half years, the Bannon family served as the constant thread through the church's growth, devoting thirty-eight and a half years of full-time ministry to the people of Aliquippa Christian Assembly. On December 31, 2018, the church marked Pastor Bannon's retirement with deep gratitude and began a new chapter.
That new chapter arrived quickly. Jack and Theresa Robison had been ordained as Associate Pastors on March 15, 2015, after years of serving in Sunday school, ushering, sound, and as deacon, elder, and church administrator. Theresa had been attending since June 1981, praying for her husband's salvation; Jack gave his life to Christ on Resurrection morning in April 1987 and never looked back. On January 1, 2019, the Robisons stepped into the office of Pastor, and the church has continued under their leadership since.
Sunday Mornings and Wednesday Prayer
Worship at Aliquippa Christian Assembly centers on a Sunday rhythm. Doors open early for a 9:30 a.m. pre-service prayer time, and the main worship and preaching service gathers at 10:00 a.m. The hour is intentionally a one-room gathering, with children and youth released to their own programs during the message.
For those who want a midweek touchpoint, the church gathers for Prayer Night on the last Wednesday of every month from 6:40 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The shorter weekly rhythm gives space for workers, students, and parents to plan around a single, focused hour of corporate prayer each month. Periodic Friday Night Praise and Worship evenings, children's Easter celebrations, and other family events fill out the calendar through the year.
Office hours run on weekdays, and the church phone (724-775-9101) is answered during those windows for prayer requests, planning a visit, or connecting with one of the ministries.
Kids for Christ and Ambassadors for Christ
Children and teenagers are not an afterthought at Aliquippa Christian Assembly; they are woven into the Sunday service itself. Kids for Christ, branded as Super Church, meets during the 10:00 a.m. service for children from age 7 through sixth grade. A staffed nursery and toddler care are available for children under 7 so that the whole family can worship together without worry.
Teenagers gather under the banner of AFC, Ambassadors for Christ, which also meets during the Sunday morning service. The youth group is led by LeeAnn Robison and gives middle and high school students their own space to study Scripture, build friendships, and put faith into practice. Theresa Robison serves as the Children's Director, coordinating the kids' ministry alongside the wider pastoral team.
Reaching Beyond the Walls
The church's heartbeat for its community shows up most clearly in two outreach efforts. The first is the Jail Ministry, which meets on Mondays from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Volunteers travel to a local correctional facility to visit, encourage, and pray with inmates. The ministry is led by Elder Dean Osman alongside Anthony DeSantis, and the church invites anyone with a heart for prisoners to join the rotation. The work is anchored in the words of Jesus in Matthew 25:36: "I was in prison and you came to visit me."
The second is the Clothing Outreach Ministry, which began with humble roots in 1995. A handful of people came through the doors of the church's clothes cupboard that first year; over the decades, that number has grown into mountains of clothing, toys, and small household items given away at no charge. The clothing outreach is now held three times a year, with distributions on the third Saturday of August and the first Saturday of December at the church building, plus a third event. On November 19, 2016, eighty-eight families were served in a single day, a snapshot of the steady, behind-the-scenes work the volunteers do to keep the ministry ready. Clean, gently used clothing and toys can be dropped off at the church any time the doors are open.
A Library of Sermons Going Back a Decade
For a church of its size, Aliquippa Christian Assembly maintains an unusually deep record of its teaching. Audio recordings of sermons are archived by month and year, with the collection stretching all the way back to January 2017 and continuing through the current year. Each Sunday's message is uploaded as a downloadable MP3, and visitors can browse by year and month to follow along with series, holiday sermons, and standalone messages.
The archive doubles as a record of the congregation's life. Listeners can hear Pastor John Bannon working through Revelation chapter by chapter, Pastor Jack Robison preaching through practical themes like "Faith Moves the Hand of God" and "Renewing the Mind," Roberta Bannon's teaching series "The Beginning Again," and contributions from elders and lay ministers. Video versions of recent sermons are also posted to the church's YouTube channel and to its Rumble page, making the teaching accessible to shut-ins, traveling members, and anyone curious about the church before they visit.
An Equipping Center for the Aliquippa Area
The mission of Aliquippa Christian Assembly is stated plainly: to honor Jesus Christ by carrying out His command to make disciples of all nations, with a particular focus on the Aliquippa area and the unchurched. The church sees itself as an equipping center, a place where believers can discover the gifts and talents God has given them and develop their full potential for service.
To that end, the church commits itself to five practices: inspirational worship, Word-oriented and relevant teaching, supportive fellowships, opportunities for outreach into the community in service and evangelism, and meaningful ministry for members of every age, from infants to senior citizens. Every ministry described above - Sunday worship, Kids for Christ, Ambassadors for Christ, the jail visits, the clothing closet, the prayer nights - feeds into that larger vision.
For a first-time visitor, the path in is simple. Show up a little before 10:00 a.m. on a Sunday, join the brief pre-service prayer if you like, and settle in for a service where your children will be cared for, your teenagers will be welcomed, and the message will be drawn from Scripture. If you want a quieter first step, the sermon archive online lets you listen in from anywhere, and the staff is only a phone call away during weekday office hours.