- March 12, 2025
Ormond Beach’s oldest church will dedicate a sign displaying its new name Nov. 4.
BY THE OBSERVER STAFF
After 130 years, Ormond Beach’s first house of worship, Ormond Beach Union Church, at 56 N. Beach St., has decided on a name change.
Following a Sept. 23 vote, the church will now be known as Ormond Beach Riverside Church, a name they’ll dedicate 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 4, with the planting of a new sign.
“Ormond Beach Riverside Church, started as a mission work in 1876 ... and was recognized as an organized church in 1883,” Pastor Charles Carruthers wrote in a release.
Curruthers is the congregation’s newest member, brought on last year to give the church a “new vision, direction and purpose.”
“John D. Rockefeller, once the world’s richest man, attended for 25 years,” Carruthers added. “The list of (other) celebrity members includes James Ormond (for whom the area was named after), Mrs. Ulysses S, Grant (wife of General and 18th president) and Mrs. Grover Cleveland (22nd & 24th president).”
In an effort to build its program catalog, the church also now holds Sunday School classes every weekend, as well as a mid-week family service, breaking the decades-old routine of just one service per week.
“We are reaching out to our community and have seen people come to Christ and follow in believer’s baptism,” Carruthers said. “We have also seen a number unite with the congregation.”
For more, visit www.OBRiversideChurch.org.
