1.  Monday, August 29, 1955:  Thirteen families met at the Joe Cain home and decided to form a  new  church.  A school building west of town that had been in use since the 1870s closed and became available.  It was rented at $20 per month and was the first PPBC, but as yet unnamed.

 2.  September 7, 1955 was the first service.  With no official pastor, Joe Cain brought the message.

 3.  Fremont Wiley offered to sell his property in town for $7,000.  A business meeting on October 1

      agreed to buy the property.  Mr. Wiley died one week after the sale was completed.

 4.  November 12, 1955: Chuck Svoboda held a series of meetings to help organize the church as

      the Paw Paw Bible Church.

 5  Olin Baxter answered the call as the first pastor on November 23, 1955.  He served until May of

     1959.

 6.  In the next 3 years a box car of cement was donated, a load of steel beams was offered at cost,

      the village was contacted about making a new street (now 7th street), trees were felled, stumps

      dynamited, trash removed, and the parsonage painted.  Ground breaking was August 5, 1956,

      real work commencing August 9.  Dirt was hauled, concrete poured, steel erected, rafters put up, roof shingled, and much more.  The furnace was installed, paneling was put up, the doors were

      hung, and the ceiling blocks installed.  200 tons of road rock for the parking lot was donated.  The  dedication was attended by many area pastors.  The church was packed!  Rev. Ken Peterson and brother John Peterson, the song writer, were both a great blessing to the PPBC.

 7.  Earl Webb became pastor August 14, 1959 and served until April 1966.

 8.  Evangelistic meetings held at PPBC led to 46 decisions in one week in January 1961.

 9.  Stone was put on the exterior of the church in 1962, and the fan and new doors were installed.

      The steeple was erected free of charge, and new shrubbery was planted.

10. September 21 to 27 featured musician/speaker Joe Talley and family for "one of the greatest

      weeks ever" in which 30 decisions were made for Christ.

11. The debt on the church was liquidated on February 15, 1965 – only 9 years after ground

      breaking. Miraculous!  The adjoining lot of 192 feet by 155 feet was purchased for $4,000.

      The final payment was made in October 1966.

12. Rally Day in September 1965 brought 232 to Sunday School and 241 to Morning Worship.

      Jeff Politsch won a pony for bringing the most visitors.

13. In June 1966 the Quackenbush family donated the church bulletin board sign, which was set in

      stone to match the church exterior.  Pastor David Funk came on July 26, 1966 and served

      until November 1967.

14. Don Kindheart became pastor in August 1968 and served a short while.  These were black

      months as there was a major disagreement between the doctrinal stand of Paw Paw Bible Church

      and the new pastor.  For the only time in its history, PPBC didn't have an annual banquet in 1969.

15. A young Rev. Eugene Thompson became pastor in December 1971 and served until July 1972,

      when he resigned to continue his schooling.

16. In 1971 the back wall of the sanctuary was paneled and the dividers put up for Sunday School

      rooms.  Trees were planted on the church property.  The church began to heal and progress

      during this time, but the number of attendees never attained what it had before 1969.

17. We participated in the dedication of Mendota Bible Church in March 1972.  Many of the people there

      had originally come to PPBC.

18. Bernard Cowles became pastor in August 1972 and served until August 1975.  He and his wife,

      Gloria, worked hard starting studies for the youth, the ladies, VBS, home Bible studies, etc.

19. In February 1974 the church celebrated "Lester Night" for "a guy who has given so much of

      himself tirelessly to the church, and without fanfare".  Also in 1974 the library was started.

20. Thomas Shelow became pastor in 1976 and served until April 1989.  He and his wife Norma also

      worked hard to build the church back up, and many activities and events occurred.  Many

      missionary programs were held.  Later, when Swift and Company in Rochelle closed Tom went

      from part time to full time pastor.  He resigned in 1983, but the congregation persuaded him to

      remain on.

21. In 1978 the piano was purchased for the fellowship hall, and new hymnals purchased.

22. In 1982 the ladies had a mother-daughter banquet centered on the village's centennial.  Mabel

      Carnahan, Anna Coss, and Olive Kent shared reminiscences of their childhood.

23. A new organ was dedicated in 1983, and the personage garage was constructed.  Also, the

      Summer Park Ministry was started in 1983.

24. In 1986 a new roof was put on the parsonage.

25. In April 1989 pastor Shelow resigned for the second and final time, and moved to Pennsylvania.

26. In August 1989 Norman Stark became the pastor.  He and his wife, Sharon ("Buzzie") worked hard

      to reach out to the community, many of which were not attending any church.  Paw Paw has not

      been exempt from the "secularization of America" as evidenced by overall church attendance.

27. Starting in 1990 Pastor Stark tried increasing activities with other area Bible churches.  A group

      of Bible churches has formed ABC (Area Bible Churches) to encourage more involvement in this

      fellowship.  A new organ was obtained in 1992.

28. Sunday School in 1993 hosted many special events in an attempt to grow attendance.

29. In 1994 the PPBC participated in a "50 Day Adventure" to encourage family devotions.  A

      computer was purchased to keep church records etc.

30. In 1995 40 years of PPBC service was celebrated.  Special services were held in March to

      encourage and challenge.  A Paw Paw Labor Day Parade included a float commemorating

      our 40 years.  Many of us worked long hours to construct the float.

31. In 1995, Pastor Stark rebuilt the parsonage porch.  The church purchased a copying machine.

32. On December 31, 2001 Nornan Stark's resignation became effective and he moved back to his

      old home church to be pastor there in Houghton, Michigan.  Obviously after 12 years of

      ministry at PPBC he has been missed both here and in the community because he was always

      available for counseling, visiting the shut-in, and helping with farm work as well as the normal

      pastoral duties.

33. In the summer of 2002 the old parsonage was put up for sale at $109,000, but sold to a second

      purchaser for $112,000.  After all the sales' fees, etc. sufficient monies remained to purchase an additional

      tract of land north of the church for about $12,000.  A land swap with Eldred Rogers was completed to   

      straighten the western lot line of the church property.     

34. In the fall of 2002 a new Parsonage building was begun with the understanding from the church

      Trustees that completion would not require a mortgage, because much of the work was to be

      done by church volunteers, with Trustee Doug Meyer acting as contractor.

35.  The new Parsonage was finished about June 22, 2003.

36.  Pastor Korey Kincaid was called on June 8, 2003, and began preaching in July, 2003.

37.  Pastor Korey Kincaid resigned effective April, 2007.

38.  Pastor Don Steffen was called as Interim Pastor.