Church: Allen Temple A.M.E. Church
Address: 232 Arnold Mill Road, Woodstock 30188
Website: www.allentempleame.org
Phone: 770-926-6348
Services: Worship at 8 and 11 a.m. Sundays, with a combined service at 11 a.m. on the fifth Sunday.
Pastor: Carl Moore
Attendance: 400
Denomination: African Methodist Episcopal
Mission statement:
“Growing Within…Reaching Out”
History:
The church began more than 143 years ago, when a faithful group gathered under a brush arboreal – a canopy of tree limbs and bushes – because there was no building for worship. Later in 1863, the group, made up of Baptists and AME members, established the county’s first African Methodist Episcopal Church and named it Allen Temple after devoted member Deacon Allen Dial.
Pastor’s Path:
As the grandson of a Baptist minister, Moore grew up in the church, led music and directed choirs. But he said he didn’t come to really know God until he was 40.
During the civil rights era, Moore was raised in Beloit, Alabama, just seven miles from Selma. He entered Alabama State College in Montgomery as a freshman, but was expelled after he became involved in demonstrations with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The young student left Alabama and enrolled in the University of Missouri in Kansas City. As a talented singer and pianist, he performed in college musicals and sang in nightclubs.
“Back then, I loved the pats on the back and the accolades,” said the pastor. “Because God gave me a decent voice and music ability, I was thrust into the limelight. In that limelight, if you’re not grounded in the Lord, the devil will work on you.”
Moore graduated with a degree in music education, taught music in high school for three years before becoming a sales rep for IBM – where he stayed for 24 years as he climbed the corporate ladder. Promotions led him to Texas and Atlanta in 1978.
He was working at IBM in 1982 when he came to Christ and felt a call to ministry. He started taking courses at the New Orleans Seminary and the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, and accepted his first pastorate at a small church in Rome.
When he joined the staff at Allen Temple in 1993, there were 97 members on the roster. Now, close to 1,400 call Allen Temple their church home. He left IBM in 1994 and focused on ministry full time.
Ministries:
Members hosted an outreach called Pass It On in downtown Woodstock in August, an event they plan to continue each year. The Gospel was presented through one-on-one witnessing, personal testimonies and music. Boxes of food, clothes and school supplies were given away.
The church’s annual Jay Dude Brownlee golf tournament raises money for scholarships, given in $1,000 increments to graduating seniors. More than $60,000 has been awarded to graduates.
For 14 years, Allen Temple has hosted the Martin Luther King Jr. Unity Breakfast, which will be held on Jan. 14, 2012, at the Cherokee County Conference Center at 1130 Bluffs Parkway in Canton. The free breakfast begins at 9 a.m.
Thoughts from the pastor:
“Our vision here at Allen Temple Church is to be an expansive body of spirit-filled Christians focused on leading souls to Christ, studying and teaching the Word; promoting spiritual, educational, physical, social and economic development of the Church and community. We strive to be a warm, friendly, hospitable and loving congregation. We seek as best we can to serve people and thus be found pleasing in the Lord’s eyes.”
