Bethel World Outreach Ministries
Address: 7094 Peachtree Industrial Blvd., Norcross 30071
Phone: 770-841-6420
Website: www.bethel-atlanta.org.
Service: 11 a.m.
Worship Style: Charismatic full gospel
Average Sunday Attendance: 125
Minister: Pastor Lawrence E. Kennedy
Parent Organization: Bethel World Outreach Ministries International in Silver Springs, Md.www.bwomi.org.
Mission statement: "Win the lost at all costs."
History:
Bethel World Outreach Ministries International has planted 17 churches in the U.S., and oversees more than 100 around the world. The Kennedys moved to Georgia in 1994 and immediately began organizational meetings for the Norcross church plant in the home of friends. Services are now held in an industrial park off Peachtree Industrial Boulevard.
Pastor’s path:
A 1979 visit with his cousin set Kennedy on a course that led him to Norcross. At the time, Darlingston Johnson was a student at Oral Roberts University. On a summer trip to his home in Liberia, where Kennedy lived, Johnson shared the gospel with Kennedy.
"I knew the gospel message,” Kennedy said. “It wasn’t what he shared. It was his life. What impacted me was his personal testimony. I saw the gospel at work in his life.”
Johnson started a Bible study and left Kennedy in charge. “I was a babe in the Lord and had to teach others, so I spent a lot of time in prayer and in God’s word.”
He eventually enrolled in the Liberia Baptist Theological Seminary, escaped the turmoil in West Africa with his family and moved to Maryland in the early 1990s. The Kennedys settled in Georgia in 1994. Currently, Johnson is Presiding Prelate of Bethel World Outreach Ministries International, Bethel’s parent organization in Maryland.
Ministries:
An active prayer ministry starts each morning with an hour of prayer. At 5 a.m., and again at 5 p.m., as many as 40 people connect on a conference call to join in prayer.
“We have seen some beautiful things happen,” Kennedy said.
Bethel’s growing women’s ministry is reaching into the neighborhoods to help people who are hurting and less fortunate. A focus on Friendship Evangelism is prompting members to invite five people to attend church with them each Sunday.
Kennedy stresses the focus is not about the numbers, but about sharing God’s message to a lost and hurting community, and encouraging members to be active in ministry. The current facility seats 250, and the pastor hopes to eventually purchase the facility.
Within the next month, Kennedy is planning to launch the Peachtree Development Center, where students and adults can come for help with homework and learn computer skills.
Another plan is to create a music school and recording studio. The goal will be twofold: to help people improve their music abilities, and to help equip churches with quality musicians to lead worship. This will provide a solution for many small churches that have a tough time keeping music leaders.
According to Kennedy, “We may start small, but the vision is to have something real big that churches around the city can take advantage of.”
Thoughts from the pastor:
“No matter what you’re going through, take heart. God has a stake in this nation despite the state of affairs. A lot of good things happen in this nation,” said Kennedy, who spends an hour each morning in prayer for America and Israel. “I see it as a responsibility to intercede. I love this nation because it’s been a blessing to us. The Bible mandates those of us coming from different nations to pray for the nation in which we live. I have a burden to pray for this nation on a continual basis.”
