On South Canfield-Niles Road in the Austintown area of Youngstown, Ohio, Austintown Community Church has gathered for worship for over a century. The congregation belongs to the Evangelical Covenant Church, a Swedish-rooted denomination founded in 1885 that has put down deep roots in this Mahoning County neighborhood. Beyond Sunday mornings, the building is home to ACC Preschool and Childcare Center, a year-round early-learning program that has served local families for more than fifty years. The church is also known throughout the wider community for two very different ministries that share a common heart for service: the Need Room, a Wednesday morning food and clothing pantry, and the Colonial Inn, the home-cooked restaurant the congregation runs every Labor Day at the Canfield Fair.
Sunday Worship at 10:30
Worship is the rhythm of life at ACC. Each Sunday at 10:30 a.m. the congregation gathers for a service that blends classic hymns with current worship songs. Looking over recent services, the music team has led everything from "Open the Eyes of My Heart" and "Holy, Holy, Holy" to "Graves into Gardens," "Way Maker," and "Same God," with a regular scripture reading and a sermon from Lead Pastor Mark Nelson. Visitors who cannot attend in person can join the service live on the church's Facebook page at the same time, and no Facebook account is needed to watch.
For adults who want to dig deeper before the service, Adult Bible Fellowship meets at 9:15 a.m. in the Conference Room of the church offices. Children's Sunday school (Promiseland for PreK through fifth grade) and Youth Bible Fellowship for grades 6 through 12 meet at 9 a.m., and a program called Crosskids runs during the worship hour after the offering so that children can remain engaged with age-appropriate teaching while the rest of the family is in the sanctuary. A staffed nursery is offered on Sunday mornings so that young parents can participate fully in worship.
What ACC Believes
Austintown Community Church holds to the affirmations of the Evangelical Covenant Church. The congregation affirms the centrality and authority of Scripture, the necessity of the new birth in Jesus Christ, the whole mission of the church (evangelism, Christian formation, and ministries of compassion and mercy), the church as a fellowship of believers described in the New Testament as the household of God and the body of Christ, a conscious dependence on the Holy Spirit, and the reality of Christian freedom within the boundaries of Scripture. Covenant churches have historically offered one another latitude on matters where sincere Christians disagree, such as baptism or the details of the end times, and ACC reflects that spirit of charity while holding firmly to the core gospel.
The church's own mission statement captures its heartbeat in a single line: "Transforming Lives with the Fullness of Christ's Love." Six core values shape everything ACC does. The church is prayerfully led, biblically grounded, grace-filled, servant-focused, moved by compassion for the lost and hurting, and welcoming to new friends.
Children: Wednesday Night Live
Midweek ministry for the church's youngest families is called Wednesday Night Live. The program runs every Wednesday evening from 6:30 to 8 p.m. during the school year and is open to children in kindergarten through fifth grade. WNL is a hands-on evening of Bible lessons, snacks, crafts, and games built around six values: child-targeted teaching, relevancy, creative Bible teaching, intentional shepherding, safety, and fun. Parents who serve in other ACC ministries on Wednesday evenings can drop off their children here while they attend adult Bible study.
Students: Middle School and High School
The student ministry at ACC aims to teach students how to be genuine faith disciples of Christ. Six values shape the program: discipleship, personal transformation, evangelism, missions, belonging, and family and faith incorporation. The high school group meets on Monday nights from 6:30 to 8 p.m., and the middle school group meets on Wednesday nights from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Students stay connected year-round through the ACC Students Instagram feed, and families can sign up for weekly updates about what the ministry is studying and what is coming up. Summer trips include a local middle school mission trip and an out-of-state high school mission trip, plus retreats at Mission Meadows, the Covenant camp in Chautauqua, New York. A one-week outreach called Summer Bash combines competitive activities, an engaging message, prizes, and food. Seventh and eighth graders can also take part in Confirmation, a program of intentional discipleship that pairs each student with a mentor.
Adults: Growing Together
ACC offers several adult fellowship options throughout the week. Adult Bible Fellowship meets on Sundays at 9:15 a.m. and is open to anyone who wants to study the Bible in community. A Midweek Bible Study runs Wednesdays from 6:30 to 8 p.m. and usually follows the theme and text of the previous Sunday's sermon. Men's Bible Study gathers at the Austintown Panera on Friday mornings at 6:30 a.m. and Saturday mornings at 7:00 a.m. for conversation around God's Word. The Women's Dorcas Circle meets regularly, and Community Groups gather on various days throughout the week. ACC encourages adults at any stage of faith to find a small group, from those still exploring who God is to long-time Christ-followers looking for deeper growth.
ACC Preschool and Childcare Center
ACC Preschool and Childcare Center is a ministry of the church and a trusted part of the Austintown community for more than fifty years. The center is open year-round from 6:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and is an authorized childcare provider for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Children from age three through fifth grade are welcome, regardless of race, religion, or ethnicity, and the staff is equipped to meet a range of behavioral, developmental, and physical needs.
The preschool is organized into classes for young threes, young fours, fours, and older fours/fives, with a recommendation of two or three days per week for younger children and four or five days for children approaching kindergarten. Kindergarten through fifth graders from Austintown Elementary and Austintown Intermediate can ride the bus to ACC for before- and after-school care. Lisa Lowery, the preschool director and a member of ACC since 2009, leads the program and the team of staff, with a Board of Directors made up of church members governing the center. A $45 non-refundable registration fee reserves a place, with registration for current families, siblings, and church members opening in early February and open registration following.
The Need Room: Food and Clothing for the Neighborhood
Every Wednesday morning from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m., the ACC parking lot becomes a food and clothing pantry called the Need Room. Volunteers pack boxes of food and distribute them to cars that line up outside the church. Clothing is also available. The Need Room is open to neighbors who live in the 44509, 44511, or 44515 zip codes and can bring proof of residence. The ministry grew out of Isaiah 53:6-7 and the church's call to loose the chains of injustice, share food with the hungry, provide shelter for the poor wanderer, and not turn away from those in need. The Need Room also needs regular volunteers to unload food supplies, pack boxes, and hand out groceries.
The Colonial Inn at the Canfield Fair
Each September the Canfield Fair rolls into town, and for more than one hundred years ACC has been there to feed the crowds. The Colonial Inn is the church's Labor Day restaurant on the fairgrounds, where ACC volunteers serve home-cooked breakfast, lunch, and dinner to fair-goers, exhibitors, concessionaires, and members of the Fair Board. Volunteers from the church, local youth groups, friends and neighbors of every background, and even diners who have rolled up their sleeves to help all come together in the kitchen and on the floor.
The Colonial Inn is far more than a fundraiser: many of the relationships that the church has with the wider community trace back to the Inn's dining tables. Volunteers receive free admission to the fair, a shuttle that runs from the church to the Colonial Inn and back at 6 a.m., 11 a.m., and 4 p.m., a free meal during their shift, and National Honor Society hours for any high school students who serve. The Colonial Inn's proceeds help support the rest of ACC's ministries, including Vacation Bible School, the Thanksgiving Baskets, mission trips, Wednesday Night Live, and the Need Room.
Getting Involved at ACC
ACC has a deep volunteer culture, and the Ministry Opportunities Form lists dozens of ways to plug in. Sunday morning teams include the Welcome and Greeting Team, the Coffee Bar, the Sunday Morning Breakfast crew, the Nursery team, Promiseland and Bible Fellowship teachers, the Scripture Reading team, the Prayer team, and the Audio, Video, and Streaming team in the A/V booth. The Worship Team welcomes instrumentalists, vocalists, drama actors, and sound and video volunteers. Children's and student ministries need classroom helpers, snack providers, drivers, chaperones, and Confirmation mentors. Service ministries include the Need Room, the Red Door Cafe (a quarterly meal served at St. John's Lutheran Church), the ecumenical Quilters group that meets on Thursday mornings, and the property team. Annual events such as Trunk or Treat, the Thanksgiving Baskets, and Spring Clean Up round out the year.
For those who want to serve in leadership, ACC has elected Board Members and Elders, as well as Ministry Teams for Worship, Outreach, Finance, Christian Education, Preschool, and Human Resources. Mission partners supported by the church include the Pregnancy Help Center, the Rescue Mission, the Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity, and Red Door Cafe, and ACC participates in short-term mission trips as those opportunities arise.
Leadership
Mark Nelson serves as Lead Pastor of Austintown Community Church. He and his wife Corrie have been married for more than twenty years and have four daughters. Mark grew up near Chicago, earned his undergraduate degree in Communications from North Park University, served two years in Budapest, Hungary as an English teacher and missionary, worked six years in camping ministry in Colorado and Michigan, and earned his M.Div. from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Before coming to ACC he was a pastor at First Covenant Church in Salina, Kansas. His prayer for ACC is that people would know and experience the extravagant grace of God given through Jesus Christ.
Lisa Lowery directs ACC Preschool and Childcare Center. She became a member of ACC in 2009, served as a preschool teacher for many years, and stepped into the director role in 2022. She also serves ACC as a worship leader. A graduate of the Childhood Development Associates program with a specialty in Preschool Education, Lisa Lowery and her husband have four children, three of whom attended ACC Preschool and Canfield Local schools.
What to Know Before Visiting
Visitors to Austintown Community Church will find a friendly, come-as-you-are community on South Canfield-Niles Road, just a short drive from the heart of Austintown. Sunday morning begins at 9:15 a.m. with Adult Bible Fellowship and children's Sunday school, and worship begins at 10:30 a.m. Children's programs run during the service so that parents can focus on the sermon, and a nursery is available. Coffee is served before and after the service, and a light breakfast is offered before children's programming on Sunday mornings during the school year. Those who cannot make it in person can worship along at 10:30 a.m. on the church's Facebook page. Prayer requests, next steps, online giving, and a check-in link are all available online for anyone wanting to connect with ACC from home.