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Histroy, Page 2

Two months after our first service, Men’s, Women’s and Youth Ministries began with over 125 people in attendance. On June 29, 1995, a church constitution was presented to the Body at the first official business meeting. The constitution was adopted and the Trustees were empowered to file papers of incorporation for Family Community Church.
As the church continued to grow, the Lord placed it on the heart of Rev. McGensy in the early part of 1996 to look at a parcel of land located at the northwest corner of Chestnut and Nees. Through his obedience in following the Wisdom of God, Rev. McGensy was put in contact with those who owned the land.

Rev. McGensy then shared with the church body that he believed the Lord has directed us to possess the 18.63 acres of land at the corner of Chestnut and Nees. After much prayer, a Property Committee was formed. It was chaired by Dr. Joe Lee and consisted of the following members: Sheena Flowers, Pamela Fobbs, Elvin Hall, Reynold Johnson, Gloria (Jackson) Morris, and Dr. Joseph Wilson.

It was exciting to watch God work and intervene on our behalf, first in preventing the property from being rezoned for commercial use, then nudging the owners to reduce their asking price to the amount our committee had set their sights on, and finally on convincing the loan officers at the bank that this group (with no backing, a track record of less than three years, and only $5,000 in the bank) had the faith, vision and determination to follow His leading. As God opened the way, the excitement grew at the thought of owning our own land. Yet, we knew there were major challenges ahead.

In June 1996, Rev. McGensy shared the tremendous effort that would be required to possess the land. He was led by the Holy Spirit to advise the church to partner with a nationally known stewardship ministry, which had expertise in putting together biblical stewardship campaigns. The church voted to procure the services of Injoy Stewardship Services (ISS) and in July 1996, we had our first orientation with ISS. This biblical campaign included every member of the church and its focus was on what GOD could do through each individual. The motto was “Equal Sacrifice, Not Equal Gifts.” The campaign, running from July to September 1996, proved to be most successful, as members and friends of the church prayerfully gave their first fruits offering and turned in their three-year commitment pledges on Sunday, September 29, 1996. The pledges totaled over $900,000! This was a major step in convincing the bank that God was indeed in this plan! On December 5, 1996, the church closed escrow on the land at the northwest corner of Chestnut and Nees. “To God Be the Glory” became our theme, and “We’ve Come This Far by Faith” our theme song.

A Land Dedication Service was held after the morning service on September 29, 1997, with two photographs being taken – one of the entire congregation and a second of our children, who would eventually inherit the fruit of our faithfulness to God.

In 1997, Rev. McGensy, once again, shared with the congregation that he believed the Lord was dealing with us to start construction on our first multi-purpose building. After a prayer vigil in the Genesis House, a Land Development Committee was formed, chaired by Dr. James Aldredge and comprised of Donald Brown, Dr. Willie Brown, Mary Hooper, Mae Johnson, Michael McDonald, Wesley Slade, Michael Smith, and Joe Williams.



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