RESTORING HOPE IN CHRIST TO RENEW THE WORLD!
RESTORING HOPE IN CHRIST TO RENEW THE WORLD!
Right from the start, The 3 C’s- Concern, Compassion, and Christ, describe the DNA of our church! These were inherited from our founder, the late Rev. Derby Bass. Rev. Bass was a humanitarian that felt called to make an impact on his community through the establishment of a church called, Full Gospel Tabernacle. He and his wife were given to hospitality: feeding the hungry, visiting those in prison, hospitals, and nursing homes, comforting those that were hurting and abused. A mild mannered man, who extended his heart to everyone that needed love, Mr. Bass transfered this compassion through his preaching of the gospel, resulting in a small congregation that formed strong bonds and a sincere devotion to Christ and one another.
After just a short while of leading this tender flock, Rev. Bass suffered a stroke, leaving him incapacitated and unable to lead. The church endured several years without a shepherd leader. Despite this, the love and care that was initially taught by their leader, and taught by the membership kept them together. Through these trying years, many came and left, but a core group remained consistent in prayer and service to God.
Their steadfastness was rewarded in 1979, when they met and installed, Mary Frazer, as the new pastor of the flock. The church thrived under the leadership of Dr. Mary E. Frazer, exceeding a period of 30 years. Under her tenure, our church was known for its love of children and families within the West Brighton community, good music sung by multiple choirs, summer programs for the community, annual street revivals, and countless hours of prayer for anyone from the neighborhood who would stop in to ask us to pray. Serving our community during the years of the CRACK EPIDEMIC, were particularly hard and defining for our church. We were called upon again and again to sit with, cry with, and pray with the families of our community who lost loved ones to the streets or to disease. We were not untouched...and so we opened our doors, our homes, and our hearts to serve in whatever capacity we were able.
In recent years, our pastor of 40 years, Dr. Mary Frazer, also became ill and unable to serve as pastor of the congregation. During her physical decline, we lost many of our members, and as the membership dwindled, so did our ability to maintain our physical building. These were the silent years of our church- as we watched our leader strive, despite her illness, we that remained held on tight to what she had taught us for many years, “That God would never leave us- nor forsake Us!” Although we were seemingly drifting, we continued faithful in prayer.
Our current leader, Pastor Sheila Frazer was God’s answer to our prayers. The daughter of our former pastor, Pastor Sheila returned to our church initially to assist her mother and the church. In time, it was mutually agreed that this was to be our next leader. Very quickly, our church saw a renewal in direction, vitality, and purpose under this new leader. The congregation is growing again, new ministries launched, we’ve begun new construction, we are again engaging our community, and the gospel of Jesus Christ is being preached.
As we look ahead, we cannot forget our lessons learned from our rich past. Our story has left us with a clear conviction that , GOD GIVES US HOPE! We have seen good and bad times, we have been lost, abandoned, and have suffered great loss, but PRAYER has continued to be a mainstay of our ministry. In addition, we have learned how to love hard- in the hard times.
Today, our vision is To Renew Hope in Christ Jesus -To Renew the World.
We welcome anyone that is looking for a place to belong, a place to serve, and make a difference.
We are TeamHOPE...come join the movement!
Full Gospel Tabernacle
Mailing Address: 1074 Castleton Avenue Staten Island, NY 10310 US I Worship Location: 584 Bay Street, Staten Island, NY 10304 US
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