In 1934, a young John Bedzyk heard about a Wesleyan Camp meeting in Chambers, New York. Here s what he did, according to a newspaper article:
“At twelve years of age, he and a large group of Ukrainian children piled into and onto a 1926 Essex. John rode straddling a headlight. They were hungry for God. Every one of this group of young people was saved that day” (Herald Examiner, April 1991).
And so began a life in ministry that included being the longtime pastor of one of Elmira s most prominent churches.
John Bedzyk was the son of Michael and Anna Bedzyk. Michael, a Ukrainian immigrant, had come from Zahutyn province in Poland around 1910 at age 16. In 1914, he took a job at the former Eclipse Machine Co. in Elmira Heights, where he met and married Anna Moskal. They settled in the Ukrainian community.