Our Pastor

Rev. Allen Latimore became our pastor way back in June of 2004.  He and his wife Cathy, and daughter Kristin, came to us from Rochester, NH.  Allen was youth pastor of Emmanuel Advent Christian Church there and held a similar position at Oak Hill Bible Church in Oxford, Massachusetts which was the church Allen grew up in which was once the Worcester Advent Christian Church in Worcester, Mass.

Pastor Allen believes that one of the keys to pastoral leadership is building relationships.  All other ministry is going to grow out of those relationships.  Pastor Allen’s ministry theme verse is 1 Thessalonians 2:8: “We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.”  Certainly one of the major parts of being a pastor is proclaiming the gospel of God.  And Pastor Allen enjoys the privilege that he has to preach God’s Word to His people.  But one thing that makes this preaching more effective is the relationship part.  Pastor Allen believes that we need to earn the right to be heard and that people will not care what we know until they know that we care.  When those relationships are built there are often greater opportunities for ministry.  Pastor Allen would say that one of his greatest privileges in ministry is sharing life together with the people of his congregation.  This all stems from what we read at the end of that verse: “because you had become so dear to us.” Pastor Allen loves the people of the Advent Christian Church of Torrington and is very thankful for the privilege of serving as its pastor. 

Not long after Pastor Allen and Cathy came to Torrington God blessed them with a son, James or Jake as most people call him.  Jake earned the rank of Eagle Scout in 2022.   He used his Eagle Scout project to serve the people of this church by making and installing a box that is used as a free library of Christian books and Bibles and a beautiful wooden cross that stands in the front of our church.  Jake is a 2023 graduate of Oliver Wolcott Tech and presently works at Carby Corporation.  Their daughter Kristin was married to Westley Loignon in 2022 and the couple live in Dayton, Maine and attend Goodwin’s Mills Advent Christian Church.  They also blessed Pastor Allen and Cathy with their first grandchild: Theodore Allen in February of 2026.