Amid wailing rock guitar chords, dabbed tears, joyous cheers of affirmation and standing ovations, Jim Bolin was installed as senior pastor of Trinity Chapel in an emotional service that stretched nearly 2 1/2 hours Sunday at the Powder Springs megachurch.
Bolin, who founded the congregation in a Cobb County storefront with his wife, Robin, in 1983, was removed by Church of God officials in 2008 after confessing to “inappropriate, consensual sexual conduct with an adult female.”
There was no tearful, Jimmy Swaggart-style “I have sinned” confessions during Sunday morning’s combined single service that nearly filled the nearly 3,000-capacity chapel. But there were many allusions in the main sermon by Samuel R. Chand and in a shorter one by Bolin to the darker days behind and the bright future ahead for the returned senior pastor and his congregation.
In fact, Chand — a ministry consultant, faith author and self-described “dream releaser” — declared the day “resurrection Sunday,” though it will probably take months if not years to determine whether the multicultural congregation that grew from five families to 7,000 members over 25 years will ever fully recover.
While declaring that she loves Bolin and his son, Jason Bolin, who rose to senior pastor after his father was removed, Jacqueline Pamphile said the church “slipped” after the elder Bolin’s transgression.
“It changed,” said the Powder Springs woman, 52. who runs a social services nonprofit. “People from my subdivision, they don’t come here anymore.”
Estimating that membership is now down to 3,000, Roger Egbert, a Trinity Chapel member for 20 years, predicted that the church with the towering arched windows facing Macland Road in a racially diverse stretch of west Cobb would recover “to an extent.”
The 62-year-old Marietta home repairman said he was “hurt” when Bolin confessed his adultery. Taking a last swig of RaceTrac cappuccino before heading inside for the service, Egbert quickly added, “Other than that, I don’t come here for the man. I come here for the church.”
Jason Bolin, who gave his final sermon as Trinity’s senior pastor on June 2 and plans to move with his family to Florida for a “next chapter” still to be determined, was not present at Sunday’s service. Though Jim Bolin’s emotions were mostly in check during his sermon, his voice broke as he thanked Jason and his wife, Sarah, for their contributions.
Standing by her husband at the pulpit, Robin Bolin, who did not speak during the service, said volumes with a busy Kleenex. The couple celebrated their 41st anniversary Sunday.
Called a “preacher par excellence” by Chand, Jim Bolin hardly seemed rusty, and, indeed, he has been pastor at The Landing Church in McDonough since February 2012. Before that, Bolin went through a two-year Church of God restoration program.
While he didn’t give specifics about his plans for Trinity Chapel, Bolin promised, “There are seeds sown, and we’re going to reap the harvest.”
The new senior pastor told congregants not to miss the next two weeks of services, when he would reveal the church’s new direction. He said that worship would be held at 10 a.m. only through the rest of the summer (instead of at 9 and 11 a.m.) so that the congregants could “break bread” together again as a united family.
“What you thought was lost and what you thought would never be again,” said Bolin, who was not made available to the media before or after the service, “it’s coming back.”
After the passionate proceedings were over, 12-year congregant Conrad Maynard sat for moments of quiet reflection in the back of the auditorium. “Powerful” was how he described what he had witnessed.
“It’s his restoration to the throne in a sense,” the 50-year-old Powder Springs technology entrepreneur said of Bolin. “He has been put back in his rightful place.”
About the Author
