First Assembly sees growth, new facilities
Published by Jeff October 26th, 2006 in News.
According to Harmon Cowart, music minister, he was told about First Assembly of Monticello while he was still in Indiana. It was a place that "you’ve got to check out."
First Assembly has been a nexus of activity since Womack’s arrival. From ministering to hurricane victims, hosting special Sundays for motorcyclists, teachers, and others; beginning a bus ministry to contructing two new facilities, no one can doubt the intent of the church to do all they can to minister to the community. "Whatever it took, our goal became to reach out and touch people, to meet needs and heal hurts," Cowart related. Cowart joined the staff of First Assembly in March 2004.
"Our very frame of mind became, ‘How can we help?’" Coward said. The day before Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast and New Orleans, a man came into the church and said that he earnestly felt that there was going to be a significant disaster. With the pastor in Haiti on a mission trip, the church responded by calling a board meeting that same Sunday evening to discuss how to respond. About 20 of the leaders went to Wal-Mart that evening, buying supplies in expectation of people from the coast.
On Monday night the church fed about 40 people in Monticello as a result of the hurricane. It was about 140 on Tuesday night, and then on Wednesday, the crowd hit - 600 were fed, with KTHV Channel 11 present for the news that evening. It seems Monticello was one of the first communities to see such large response and quick activation of relief efforts.
Soon the church purchased vans and a minibus, with plans to purchase a larger bus on the plate for the future. They began travelling to neighborhoods in Monticello picking up children for their Wednesday night children’s ministries. Their children’s ministry grew from about 30 to over 120 in just a few short weeks. As a result, they renovated their church facility to create a children’s worship center, complete with an upstairs for ping pong, games, and video games. However, taking in that space meant that the youth had no adequate location for their own activities. Plans were drawn up for new ministry centers.
"Pastor is always telling us that church is not a museum or a showcase. It’s an emergency room and a huge supply pantry," Cowart said. The church adopted this mentality as they built two new facilities, behind the existing church building. One is a youth/activities building that contains a worship center, gymnasium, game room/snack bar, coffee shop, computer center, class rooms, and offices. The other is a dining center/fellowship hall that also contains a two-bedroom apartment, food pantry accesible by a sliding garage door for large shipments, and a large, roofed back porch area for outdoor fellowship and recreation. Both facilities are approximately 9600 square feet, but the youth/actitivities center also has an upstairs.
The church was able to build both centers for less than $900,000, instead of the projected $1.8 million that was originally stated by architects. The buildings were dedicated July 30. The growth of the church is significant, considering that when the land was purchased on Highway 425 about 15 years ago from the Dearman family, the church almost sold it back to the Dearmans for fear of not being able to pay for it. The existing church was built on the land in 1994.
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These new facilities are definitely beautiful. Monticello is very blessed to have a church like First Assembly. They are passionate about ministry and serving others. The body of this church worked super hard during the hurricanes. They truly have a love for people.
Thank you, Jeff, for the article about our church. My family has been at First Assembly for about 2 years. I want to say that it has been a privilege to serve with such an enthusiastic congregation. The church IS sold out for Christ and that is liberating!
Pastor Al supports his members in their ministries and is so encouraging. He has an incredible heart for reaching the lost and healing hurts. I am inspired by his humbleness coupled with action; that is a rare combination. He trust God to meet all of our needs and leads the church with enormous faith.
Most of all I want to thank God for His blessings on the church and His people. When you see the motorcycles all over, busses packed full of kids, or food being distributed seemingly without regard for cost, please just realize that we serve a loving God who meets all of our needs. Glorifying the name of Jesus is our number one priority.
I love how Pastor Al says it,
“FIND A HURT AND HEAL IT – FIND A NEED AND FILL IT!”
Psalm 91:1
http://ag.org/top
Do’nt let Cathy Hales fool you, she is an awesome women after the heart of God! We are truly blessed
to have Cathy and her entire family at First Assembly!
Cathy not only allows God to use her to fill peoples
sprit needs she also loves to feed their physical need
Thanks Cathy for all your hard work and compassion!
Jeff, I read the articles daily. I am enjoying “Monticello Live” very much. Thank you for the wonderful write up on First Assembly, I shared it with several friends that have not had an opportunity to come and see what God is doing through our church. Thank you for your time to put this together. I pray continual blessings on your ministry here in Monticello. You are doing a great job.
Karen
i remember when pastor bo bo was there and it was a small church with activities and i loved it and later on pastor al came and it became alot bigger it was some thing me as a third grader at the time wasnt used to growing up in that small church and it all of a sudden getting alot bigger!!!!!!!!!!!!we now have 2 great buildings that we use alot to help people all the time and i love it im now a 6th grader at first assembly of god and im in the youth program and help out the church in anyway i can i just want to say thank yooou mr.jeff for all the great reviews and thank you pastor al i have learned growing up in this church that we can make a change in the world and that this church has saved plenty of people and thank yoU!!!!!!!!!!!1THANK YOU LOTZ!!!
I LOVE YOU CHUCH FAMILY
:)BECCA STEPHENSON:)