PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE BAPTIST CHURCH

What PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE BAPTIST CHURCH does

Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church is an independent, nonprofit Baptist congregation headquartered in Urbana, Illinois, with a 12-employee operational footprint. Founded in 1909 as Herald of Hope Baptist Church — originally a chapel railroad car ministry established by Rev. W.J. Sparks — the congregation reorganized as First Southern Baptist Church, Urbana in 1948, constructed a new sanctuary in 1964-1965, and was renamed Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church by 1984. The church has been served by a sequence of pastors across more than a century, with the current pastor being John Calio (2026-Present), following Rich Gregory's 2003-2024 tenure. Marked historic milestones include the 75th Anniversary Celebration (October 21-24, 1984) and the 100th Anniversary Celebration (2009).

The organization's core offering is in-person worship and religious education, delivered weekly through Sunday School at 9:30 am, Sunday Worship at 10:45 am (with deaf interpretation), Thursday Men's Fellowship, and assorted ministry events. Programming spans multi-generational audiences — children, youth, college students, and seniors — and includes the long-standing American Heritage Girls Troop IL 1926, which will begin meeting at the facility on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of most months starting September 1, 2026. The church also maintains a hearing-impaired ministry (sign language interpretation during worship) and a missions program. Community engagement is supported through a website (pabcurbana.org) and a Facebook group; no mobile app, commercial platform, or proprietary technology stack is disclosed.

Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church does not operate on a commercial revenue model. Services are provided to the congregation and community without charge, and the organization is supported by voluntary donations and tithes. No revenue figures are publicly disclosed. The church is self-governing, with no parent company, external investors, or funding rounds typical of commercial enterprises. Its market is strictly local — Urbana, Illinois — and its growth indicators are limited to facility utilization and programmatic partnerships rather than commercial scaling.

Name

PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE BAPTIST CHURCH

Legal name

Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church

Website

https://pabcurbana.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1909

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church is an independent, nonprofit Baptist congregation in Urbana, Illinois, serving the local Champaign-Urbana community through weekly worship, religious education, deaf interpretation, and multi-generational ministry programs. Founded in 1909 and supported by voluntary donations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Religious Services

NAICS

Religious Organizations (8131), Religious Organizations (813110), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

akta.pro primary industry

Faith-Based Education & Formation (Seminaries, Religious Schools, Catechesis) (BPAGAJAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Missionary Training Colleges & Schools (EDAHAKAF)

Keywords

• Religious worship services
• Christian ministry programs
• Sunday school education
• Community fellowship
• Youth ministry programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Urbana

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church is an independent Baptist congregation in Urbana, Illinois, that delivers weekly Christian worship services, Sunday School, men's fellowship, and multi-generational ministry programs (children, youth, college, seniors) directly to congregation members and the local community. The church also hosts an American Heritage Girls troop and provides accessibility through deaf interpretation during Sunday worship. All services are offered free of charge to attendees, supported by voluntary member donations and tithes.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Sunday Worship Service Weekly Sunday worship service held at 10:45 am with deaf interpretation available for hearing-impaired attendees. Offered free to congregation members and the local Urbana community.
• Sunday School Weekly Sunday School at 9:30 am providing Christian religious education across age groups, held at the Urbana church facility.
• Thursday Men's Fellowship Weekly Thursday evening fellowship gathering for men at 6:00 pm at the Urbana church facility.
• American Heritage Girls Troop IL 1926 Christian scouting-style program for girls grades K-12, organized in Champaign-Urbana in 2009, hosting badge programs, service projects, leadership opportunities, and outdoor experiences with emphasis on Christian values. Troop meetings will be held at the PABC facility beginning September 1, 2026.
• Hearing Impaired Ministry Accessibility ministry providing deaf interpretation during Sunday worship services, originally initiated through the work of Norma Clark and documented at the 1984 75th Anniversary.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• American Heritage Girls (AHG Troop IL 1926)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2026American Heritage Girls is a Christian organization dedicated to building women of integrity through service to God, family, community, and country. AHG Troop IL 1926, organized in Champaign-Urbana in 2009, will meet at Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church beginning September 1, 2026 on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of most months from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm for girls grades K-12. The church provides facility space for troop meetings.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Others

• Lifeway Christian Resources: The publishing and educational arm of the Southern Baptist Convention. Comparable as an ecosystem supplier providing Sunday School curricula and faith-formation materials that PABC's religious education programs depend on.

Broad incumbents

• Southern Baptist Convention: The largest Protestant denomination in the US and the broader Baptist tradition within which independent Baptist churches like PABC historically affiliate. A broad incumbent defining the doctrinal and missional space in which PABC operates.
• American Baptist Churches USA: A mainline Baptist denomination with similarly structured local congregations. Provides comparable framing on governance, congregational polity, and faith-formation programming even though PABC identifies as an independent Baptist body.
• Illinois Baptist State Association: The state-level Baptist association coordinating affiliated churches in Illinois. Comparable as a regional denominational structure that independent Baptist congregations in the state relate to for missions, resources, and fellowship.

Direct peers

• Green Street Baptist Church (Champaign): A historic Baptist congregation in Champaign, IL with overlapping geography and comparable congregation size. Direct competitor for the same local Baptist audience.
• First Baptist Church of Champaign: A Baptist congregation in the same Champaign-Urbana metro. Comparable as a similarly-sized local Baptist church competing for members in the same catchment.
• University Baptist Church at Urbana: A Baptist congregation in Urbana, IL affiliated with the university community. Directly comparable as a same-denomination, same-city Baptist church competing for the same Champaign-Urbana congregation and donor base.
• All Nations Baptist Church (Champaign-Urbana): Referenced directly in the source data as a Champaign-area Baptist congregation that ran English classes and partnered with PABC. Same denomination, same geography, overlapping community programs.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/129720190379554
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pennsylvania-avenue-baptist-church

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE BAPTIST CHURCH