Climbing to New Heights on Glory Hill
Mount Zion Church sits on Glory Hill Road on the edge of Waverly, a small village in the Southern Tier of New York where the state line brushes against Pennsylvania and the nearby towns of Sayre and Athens. The church's motto, 'Climb to New Heights in God,' sums up its outlook. For more than a decade that phrase has described both the spiritual aim of the congregation and the steady rhythm of ministries that connect the church to its neighbors and to countries far beyond Tioga County.
Mount Zion is a nondenominational, Pentecostal congregation affiliated with Zion Fellowship International, a worldwide fellowship of worshiping and teaching churches. That affiliation gives the church a much wider footprint than its Waverly address suggests: its pastors have come from New Zealand and Africa, its preaching is heard on podcast platforms, and its teaching feeds into Bible schools in multiple continents. What happens on Sunday morning at 241 Glory Hill Road is one local expression of a much larger family.
Sunday Mornings and Evenings at Mount Zion
The Sunday rhythm at Mount Zion begins at 10:00 AM with Sunday School. Children and youth from age 3 through 18 gather in age-graded classrooms for lessons drawn from the Word of God with meaningful application. Adults meet at the same hour in their own Sunday School class, designed to dig deep into Scripture so that Christians can learn to feed on the finest of the wheat.
At 11:00 AM the main worship service begins. The service opens with extended singing, moves into a time of praise and worship, allows room for prophetic words, and centers on a message preached from the Word. Communion is celebrated monthly. The service is livestreamed on YouTube so that members who are traveling, unwell or simply at a distance can still gather with the church.
The day closes with another gathering in the sanctuary. From 6:30 to 7:30 PM the church holds an evening prayer and sharing time. The evening service is quieter and freer, with singing, prayer and a time for congregants to testify to what God has done in their lives. It is one of the clearest expressions of the church's Pentecostal identity, where the gifts of the Spirit, prophecy and personal faith stories have a regular place alongside preaching.
Wednesday Nights at Mount Zion
Mount Zion also meets midweek. On Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 7:30 PM the sanctuary opens again for a service of worship, prayer and a message from the Word. The Wednesday gathering keeps the week's teaching alive between Sundays and gives the church's small groups and prayer circles a natural anchor point. Like the Sunday services, it is open to visitors and is one of the easier nights for newcomers to drop in.
Pentecostal Beliefs in Their Own Words
Mount Zion's statement of faith reflects the Pentecostal tradition it shares with its parent fellowship. The church teaches that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the Maker and Preserver of all things visible and invisible. It affirms the full deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, who existed eternally with the Father, took on humanity through the miracle of the incarnation, and remains co-Creator of the world, the only Savior and coming Judge.
The church holds that the whole canon of Scripture, both Old and New Testaments, is the inspired and authoritative Word of God, of supreme and final authority in all that it teaches. It teaches that all people are lost apart from the saving grace of Jesus Christ, that sin is cleansed only through personal repentance and faith in the precious blood of Christ, and that water baptism by immersion should follow receiving Christ as Lord and Savior.
Mount Zion also teaches that the redemptive work of Christ provides healing for the body, mind, soul and spirit, and that miracles and the gifts of the Spirit are available to the church today for the edifying and perfecting of its members. The church believes in the baptism of the Holy Spirit as evidenced by speaking in other tongues according to Acts 2:4, and holds that this promise is for all who desire it, ask for it and obey God. The statement of faith further defines marriage as a covenant relationship between a man and a woman for life, sets moral standards drawn from passages such as Galatians 5 and 2 Timothy 3, and outlines the church's view of stewardship through tithes and offerings.
Sunday School for Every Age
Children's Ministry at Mount Zion centers on the 10:00 AM Sunday School hour. Classes are arranged by age group from age 3 through 18, and each one works through age-appropriate lessons from the Word of God with meaningful application. A library of short children's video messages continues the same teaching outside the classroom, with titles such as "God is Truth," "God is Present Everywhere," "God is All Powerful," "Jesus is Alive" and "Winning the Race." These children's messages are hosted on YouTube for families to use at home.
Adults meet in their own Sunday School hour before the main service, digging deep into God's Word together. Both Sunday School tracks feed directly into the worship service that follows at 11:00 AM, so a Sunday at Mount Zion typically involves two hours of teaching for most members before the day continues with the evening prayer gathering.
The Overcomers Youth Group
Sunday evenings also belong to the young people of Mount Zion. The Overcomers Youth Group, open to ages 12 through 22, is built around the aim of applying the Word of God to the lives of teenagers so they can overcome the obstacles they face in today's society. The group's motto comes from Ephesians 6:13: "having done all, to stand." Eric and Sarah Gutierrez, who are school teachers by profession, have led the youth group for many years, and the pair also travel to teach in Zion Bible Schools in Central America and Ethiopia.
Nursing Home Ministry
One of Mount Zion's quieter outreaches is its Nursing Home Ministry. Suzanne Ying, who came to Mount Zion from Singapore after graduating from Zion Ministerial Institute, directs the work. The ministry brings the Word of God and encouragement to seniors in area care facilities, an unhurried expression of the church's call to care for people beyond its own sanctuary.
A Wider Fellowship Around the World
Mount Zion Church is affiliated with Zion Fellowship International, a nondenominational, Pentecostal organization devoted to the Lord Jesus Christ and to the end-time revival. ZFI oversees a worldwide missions program, resident Bible schools in many countries, distance education programs, the distribution of Christian books and study manuals, and leadership seminars in the United States and around the world.
Mount Zion sits near the center of that wider network. Zion Ministerial Institute, a Spirit-filled two-year residential Bible school, is located at ZFI headquarters in Waverly. Zion Christian University, an undergraduate school of theology based in Clearwater, Florida, provides distance theological education to students worldwide. Zion Christian Publishers produces affordable Christian literature in more than 25 translations. Several of Mount Zion's pastors are graduates or faculty of ZMI, and the church regularly sends members to teach in Bible schools overseas. The Sunday evening sermon archive includes messages from visiting ministers such as Curtis Sharp, who preached on "The Work in Costa Rica," reflecting the church's ongoing interest in missions.
Pastors and Leaders With a Missionary Heart
Reverend David Wallis and his wife Marilyn serve as Senior Pastors. The Wallises originate from New Zealand, where they were sent out as missionaries to the Philippines and India before the Lord led them to America and the faculty of Zion Ministerial Institute. Pastor David has served as Senior Pastor at Mount Zion since 2012. He is also Chancellor of Zion Ministerial Institute and President of the Board of Zion Fellowship International. The Wallises travel with Marilyn to other nations for pastors' seminars, Bible institutes and church ministries, and Marilyn serves on the Mount Zion Church Board.
Pastor Ted Topper and his wife Suzette serve as Assistant Pastors. The Toppers were missionaries in Burkina Faso, Africa, for many years, where Pastor Ted directed a Zion Bible School. He now teaches the Word at ZMI and in other countries, while Suzette serves as business office manager for Zion Fellowship International.
Pastor Neal Erb, a graduate of ZMI, serves as Treasurer and Secretary of the Church Board, teaches Sunday School, preaches and has run the sound desk for Mount Zion services for over twenty years. Abigail Erb, one of ZFI's music directors, leads worship at Mount Zion and plays piano and violin. Paul Fanning, another ZMI graduate, teaches Sunday School, preaches and serves on the church board. Suzanne Ying directs the Nursing Home Ministry, serves on the worship team and teaches at ZMI and Zion Christian University. Eric Gutierrez leads the youth group, teaches Sunday School, preaches, serves as a deacon, sits on the church board and teaches for Zion Christian University; Sarah Gutierrez ministers alongside him in women's meetings and children's ministry abroad.
Listening, Watching and Giving
Sunday messages are recorded and shared on YouTube, and a growing selection of recent messages is also available as a podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and iHeart Radio, so listeners can catch up on the church's preaching at their own pace. Children's Messages, with lessons drawn from the same teaching tradition, are available on YouTube as well.
For those who want to support the church's work locally and globally, gifts can be dropped in the offering box at the back of the sanctuary, mailed to PO Box 70, Waverly, NY, 14892, or given online by credit card or bank transfer through the church's giving page. Mount Zion ministers not only to the Waverly, Athens and Sayre area but also supports missionaries around the world through its fellowship with Zion Fellowship International.
Finding Mount Zion
Mount Zion Church is located at 241 Glory Hill Road in Waverly, New York, and can be reached by phone at (607) 565-2801. Visitors are welcome at the 10:00 AM Sunday School hour, the 11:00 AM main service, the 6:30 PM Sunday evening prayer gathering, or the 6:30 PM Wednesday evening service. For those at a distance, the church's YouTube livestream offers a way to follow the services live from anywhere.