Garywood Assembly Of God
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Garywood Assembly of God is a large church in
Hueytown, Alabama Hueytown is a city near Bessemer in western Jefferson County, Alabama, United States. It is part of the Birmingham metropolitan area, and was part of the heavy industry development in this area in the 20th century. At the 2020 census, the popu ...
; a western suburb of Birmingham. It is affiliated with the
Assemblies of God The Assemblies of God (AG), officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 144 autonomous self-governing national groupings of churches that together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination."Assemblies of God". ...
.


Founding

Garywood Assembly was founded in 1947 during a tent
crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were i ...
by
evangelist Evangelist may refer to: Religion * Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels * Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ * Evangelist (Anglican Church), a c ...
Dorine Justice. The church began with just fourteen members. Dorine Justice served as pastor for the first year, between 1950 and 1979 there were eleven different pastors, during which time church growth was slow. In 1979, Pastor John A. Loper, then an official with the Alabama District of the
Assemblies of God The Assemblies of God (AG), officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 144 autonomous self-governing national groupings of churches that together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination."Assemblies of God". ...
, accepted the pastorate. During this time the church's radio outreach, ''Garywood Alive,'' was aired. This soon evolved into a television outreach as well. On October 7, 2012, Pastor Loper announced that he would retire on February 11, 2013, one week after he would celebrate the 35th anniversary of his coming to Garywood. On February 3, 2013, Pastor Jeff Leatherman was elected as Lead Pastor of Garywood.


Annual events

The church is known throughout metro Birmingham for its annual Easter Drama, which began in 1977 and was produced each year through 2004, and again in 2006 before being discontinued. The church also hosted an annual Garywood Campmeeting, which for many years was billed as the largest "spiritual gathering" in Alabama, featuring well-known figures Vestal Goodman, Marvin Gorman,
Jesse Duplantis Jesse Duplantis (born July 9, 1948) is an American preacher from the Christian Evangelical Charismatic movement. He is based in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S., and the founder of Jesse Duplantis Ministries. Evangelical career Duplantis is consider ...
and
John Kilpatrick John Reed Kilpatrick (June 15, 1889 – May 7, 1960) was an American athlete, soldier, and sports businessperson. He is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and College Football Hall of Fame. Kilpatrick was born to a Canadian mother and American ...
(of
Brownsville Revival The Brownsville Revival (also known as the Pensacola Outpouring) was a widely reported Christian revival within the Pentecostal movement that began on Father's Day June 18, 1995, at Brownsville Assembly of God in Pensacola, Florida. Characteristi ...
fame).


Property acquisitions

In 2003 Garywood's congregation overwhelmingly voted to buy property on I-459 near McCalla, Alabama, for relocation. Original plans included a 2,500-seat state-of-the-art auditorium, large facilities for youth, children's ministry and greatly expanded capacity for Garywood Christian School. However, the church sold the property to Colonial Properties Trust in 2006, and is using the proceeds of the sale to build a new facility approximately one mile away from the first site. Groundbreaking for the new facility, just off Charles Hamilton Road and Old Tuscaloosa Road, took place on November 18, 2007. Construction of the new facility was scheduled to begin in January 2008 and be completed sometime in 2009. Because of the ongoing economic situation, the move has been delayed, and new construction has not begun.


References


External links


Official Website of Garywood Assembly of GodAssemblies of God General Council: Pastor John Loper speaks at Pentecostal Preachers Week conference (2004)
{{coord, 33.45227, -86.97652, display=title Assemblies of God churches Churches in Jefferson County, Alabama Pentecostal churches in Alabama