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Renovating Lives

Faith Assembly of God, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

By Scott Harrup

As he studied architectural drawing in college, Richard Smith grappled with the call of God on his life. Raised in the Church of God in Christ, he had started preaching at 15 and pastored his first church at 19. But corporate dreams called for a season. When he made the decision to transfer to Valley Forge Christian College and pursue the ministry wholeheartedly, he never could have guessed how God would use his secular training.

Richard and Rosilyn Smith have planted and nurtured Faith Assembly of God in Philadelphia for 21 years. They first met with a few members in a community center, then moved in with nearby Calvary Chapel Assembly of God. In 1983 the church was in a storefront building. Five years later, they were back at Calvary Chapel, this time as sole occupants.

Along the way, Richard’s skills have been a blessing. The congregation had to put running water, heat, and electricity into the storefront sanctuary. When they assumed ownership of Calvary Chapel major repairs were needed as well. Faith Assembly’s new facility into which they plan to move this summer is a warehouse they have completely restructured to meet their needs. It will seat 400 and includes a gymnasium/multipurpose building.

But buildings are only shells, even if they are customized for outreach. The Smiths’ hearts are with the needy families in their Philadelphia community. They have opened the doors of Faith Assembly to the homeless. As a result, their congregation has steadily grown.

"When we moved into Calvary Chapel," Smith says, "we had maybe 15 people and only took up two pews."

Within a couple of years, the 125-seat sanctuary was filled to capacity. The reason: Faith Assembly became a 24/7 church.

"We would have food distribution for the homeless," Smith says, "but then they didn’t have anywhere to go for the night. So we turned some Sunday School rooms into bedrooms and began letting some men take shelter there."

Deeper needs, such as addiction, called for another level of ministry. Smith was referring dozens of people each year to local centers until he was told they were at capacity. So Faith Assembly started its own. The Smiths bought a home for the church to use as a residential facility.

"Once we had taken care of the men," Smith says, "I’d have women approaching me and saying that the church needed to think about their needs too."

The city of Philadelphia gave Faith Assembly an abandoned crack house for $1. The residents from the men’s home renovated it, and it became a women’s facility and then a home for needy families.

The original feeding ministry has continued to grow. Faith Assembly feeds 300-400 families every month.

"These are hard-working families that find themselves with little or no money left in the budget for groceries after they’ve paid their rent, utilities, and other basic bills," Smith says. "We give them enough groceries to last 3-5 days, as well as essential household supplies."

There are also regular meals offered at the church, as well as special outreaches during the year including a turkey distribution at Thanksgiving and a gift drive for kids at Christmas. For the past 12 years, Faith Assembly has created a community summer highlight by holding a tent crusade for 8 nights. Besides the spiritual food delivered from the pulpit each evening, 300-400 meals fill hungry stomachs.

With the warehouse renovation nearing completion, Smith envisions several additional ministries. He particularly wants to see the church’s outreach to local youth expand through use of the gymnasium. Corporate and government donations of computers are allowing Faith Assembly to set up a career-training program.

While the government allocation does come with some rules, they are not prohibitive. "We’re still welcome to share our faith as long as it’s not coercive," Smith says. "Most of the people who come to our church for the food or other assistance ask for prayer anyway."

The warehouse’s 400-seat sanctuary may take awhile to fill. But with Faith Assembly’s focus on multiplication through discipleship, it appears to be only a matter of time before Smith will be looking for that next property in need of a facelift.

—Scott Harrup is associate editor of Today’s Pentecostal Evangel, Springfield, Missouri.