History
On October 29, 1994, while serving in the capacity
of Associate Minster at Saint’s Rest Baptist Church,
God spoke to the heart of Rev. Chester McGensy and
gave him a vision. Rev. McGensy first shared this
revelation with his family and after prayerful deliberance a month later, with
his pastor and mentor, Rev. Chester Riggins, of
Saint’s Rest Baptist Church. Rev. McGensy was further
led by the Holy Spirit to hold a meeting in his
home on December 8, 1994, with two other families:
Lawrence & Jessie Mason and Bobby & Pam
Lee. This marked the glorious beginning of Family
Community Church, for at this meeting Family Community
Church was officially organized. On January 8, 1995,
Rev. McGensy was ordained by Rev. Riggins and a
counsel of ordained ministers from the community.
The idea of a new church began to blossom as many
families contacted Rev. McGensy requesting more
information.. The months of January and February
were extremely busy as the small group prepared
for its first worship service set for March 5, 1995.
Advertisements appeared in The Fresno Bee and The
California Advocate on February 4, 1995, and an
orientation meeting was held on February 5th at
Kastner Intermediate School with over sixty dedicated
individuals attending to learn how they could be
of service to the Lord at Family Community Church.
Leaders were appointed for the following ministries:
Men’s Ministry, Dr. Fitzalbert Marius; Women’s Ministry,
Jessie Mason; Family Ministry, Linda Simpson; Christian
Education, Juanita Perry; Sunday School, Dorothy
Marius; Children’s Nursery, Portia McGensy and Evelyn
Jones; Audio, Michael Marius; Ushers and Greeters,
Gloria (Jackson) Morris; and
Coordinator of Facilities, Kenneth Brister. Under
the leadership of Juanita Perry, Bible teachers
were trained and Sunday School classes were established
for all age groups.
"And pray in the Spirit, on
all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying
for all the saints."
(Ephesians 6:18).
From the beginning, prayer has been the guiding
force at Family Community Church. On Wednesday,
March 1, 1995, the initial praise and prayer service
was held at Kastner Intermediate School. Fervent
prayers went up...asking the Lord for His blessing
on the first Sunday morning service, scheduled for
March 5th. Those prayers were answered in a most
dramatic way when over 300 worshipers attended our
first morning worship service. Deacons and Officers
were also installed during that initial morning
worship service.
Rev. McGensy’s inaugural sermon was appropriately
entitled, 'Stepping Out on Faith'. Over 75 people
responded to the first invitation to become members
of the new congregation. This was followed by our
first baptismal service on May 21st, when 16 people
made a public confession of their faith.
Two months after our first service, Men’s, Women’s
and Youth Ministries began with over 125 people
in attendance. On June 29, 1995, a church constitution
was presented to the Body at the first official
business meeting. The constitution was adopted and
the Trustees were empowered to file papers of incorporation
for Family Community Church.
As the church continued to grow, the Lord placed
it on the heart of Rev. McGensy in the early part
of 1996 to look at a parcel of land located at the
northwest corner of Chestnut and Nees. Through his
obedience in following the Wisdom of God, Rev. McGensy
was put in contact with those who owned the land.
Rev. McGensy then shared with the church body that
he believed the Lord has directed us to possess
the 18.63 acres of land at the corner of Chestnut
and Nees. After much prayer, a Property Committee
was formed. It was chaired by Dr. Joe Lee and consisted
of the following members: Sheena Flowers, Pamela
Fobbs, Elvin Hall, Reynold Johnson, Gloria (Jackson)
Morris, and Dr. Joseph Wilson.
It was exciting to watch God work and intervene
on our behalf, first in preventing the property
from being rezoned for commercial use, then nudging
the owners to reduce their asking price to the amount
our committee had set their sights on, and finally
on convincing the loan officers at the bank that
this group (with no backing, a track record of less
than three years, and only $5,000 in the bank) had
the faith, vision and determination to follow His
leading. As God opened the way, the excitement grew
at the thought of owning our own land. Yet, we knew
there were major challenges ahead.
In June 1996, Rev. McGensy shared the tremendous
effort that would be required to possess the land.
He was led by the Holy Spirit to advise the church
to partner with a nationally known stewardship ministry,
which had expertise in putting together biblical
stewardship campaigns. The church voted to procure
the services of Injoy Stewardship Services (ISS)
and in July 1996, we had our first orientation with
ISS. This biblical campaign included every member
of the church and its focus was on what GOD could
do through each individual. The motto was “Equal
Sacrifice, Not Equal Gifts.” The campaign, running
from July to September 1996, proved to be most successful,
as members and friends of the church prayerfully
gave their first fruits offering and turned in their
three-year commitment pledges on Sunday, September
29, 1996. The pledges totaled over $900,000! This
was a major step in convincing the bank that God
was indeed in this plan! On December 5, 1996, the
church closed escrow on the land at the northwest
corner of Chestnut and Nees. “To God Be the Glory”
became our theme, and “We’ve Come This Far by Faith”
our theme song.
A Land Dedication Service was held after the morning
service on September 29, 1997, with two photographs
being taken – one of the entire congregation and
a second of our children, who would eventually inherit
the fruit of our faithfulness to God.
In 1997, Rev. McGensy, once again, shared with the
congregation that he believed the Lord was dealing
with us to start construction on our first multi-purpose
building. After a prayer vigil in the Genesis House,
a Land Development Committee was formed, chaired
by Dr. James Aldredge and comprised of Donald Brown,
Dr. Willie Brown, Mary Hooper, Mae Johnson, Michael
McDonald, Wesley Slade, Michael Smith, and Joe Williams.
Throughout the 1997 year, the Land Development
Committee actively pursued plans for financing our
first multi-purpose building. We were moving closier
to realizing yet another portion of the vision God
had given us. As a body of believers standing on
the promises of God, we closed 1997 with prayers
of thanksgiving and opened 1998 with praise.
As Rev. McGensy stayed faithful to teaching on God’s
Word without equivocation, Family Community Church
begin to have an impact on the community-at-large, many
were saved and many new families united with us. With the theme “Spiritual Maturity,” 1998 was a
year in which we saw much growth toward Christian
maturity as we held our focus on the vision given
our pastor. Our faith in God never wavered as we
continued to believe “God would do exceedingly abundantly
above all that we could ask or think.” The membership
grew as many souls were saved and brought into the
kingdom of God, while some of our faithful soldiers
were called home to be with the Lord during that
year.
In January 1998, the church submitted an application
to Regency Bank to borrow funds to build the multi-purpose
building on our property. After months of trials
and testing our faith, the Lord touched the hearts
of the bankers and our loan request was pre-approved.
For several months, the Land Development Committee
enthusiastically worked with the architect and engineers
to develop blueprints for the project. Despite the
fact we tried to be conservative with costs, when
we went tout o bid, the lowest bidder came in $600,000
over budget. We were sent back to our knees in prayer
and with God’s enabling, we made substantial cutbacks,
redrew portions of the blueprints, and were granted
concessions from the City of Fresno. We are grateful
to several friends of Family Community Church who
contributed their time and talents to assist us.
Finally, we were able to negotiate with the two
lowest bidders and eventually awarded the contract
to Basila Construction, Inc., of Madera which offered
a bid $2,000 under our budget.
We were then able to return to the bank for final
approval for a land and construction loan in the
amount of $2,398,500.00. The loan was approved and
escrow closed on March 5, 1999, exactly four years
from the date of our first worship service at Kastner
Intermediate School.
We began 1999 with great hope and promise. On
Saturday, March 13, 1999, a groundbreaking ceremony
was held for our first building and construction
begin on March 15, 1999. The following pastors came
to celebrate with us: Pastor Chester Riggins of
Saints Rest Baptist Church; Pastor Paul Binion of
Westside Church of God; Pastor G. L. Johnson of
People’s Church; Pastor Bufe Karraker of Northwest
Church; Pastor Bob Cherry of Grace Family Fellowship;
Pastor Edward Lee of Mt. Olive Baptist Church; Pastor
Jan Van Oosten of New Covenant Community Church;
Pastor Jerome Jackson of Christian Community Church;
and Pastor George Posthumus of Riverpark Bible Church.
These were all churches, which had supported us
either with prayer or by giving us the use of their
facilities while we were waiting for our own.
With construction well underway for the multi-purpose
building, we proceeded forward with great excitement.
God had been faithful to us, and now we needed to
be faithful to Him. As Pastor McGensy had been considering
the theme for 1999, it was placed on his heart that
we, as a body of believers, need to focus our attention
on “Filling the Master’s House” (Luke 14:23) through
evangelism. As we were obedient to sharing the Good
News of Jesus Christ, God added to this local assembly
of believers.
Not only did the Master’s House need to be filled
with people, but also with furnishings. In making
cutbacks for the building, the reserve for furniture
was eliminated.. Our trustees showed tremendous
courage and faithfulness as they once again were
forced to come before the congregation and present
the need. The congregation came together on Saturday,
July 17, 1999, at a banquet to give praise to God
for the great things He had done, to get information
regarding the needs of the church, and to receive
encouragement through testimonies of God’s faithfulness
to us. That evening proved to be a great success
as people graciously pledged their support to “Furnish
the Master’s House.” With these pledges we were
able to purchase 400 comfortable chairs, a grand
piano, sound system, and multi-media equipment.
After much anticipating and arduous labor, both
paid and volunteer, Family Community Church was
ready to open the doors of our new church building.
On October 24, 1999, the congregation gathered in
front of the church and with high praise and prayers
of thanksgiving, we entered God’s House at Chestnut
and Nees singing, “We’ve Come This Far By Faith.”
Our church dedication service was held on November
7, 1999, with many of our sister churches from throughout
the City of Fresno joining us to celebrate this
special occasion. Rev. Chester Riggins brought the
gospel message on our theme, “Unless the Lord Builds
a House.” This was indeed a glorious day!
As a body of believers, we entered the new millennium
with the theme for the year 2000 “Endeavoring to
Live By Sound Doctrine,” (II Timothy 4:3a). We know
that whenever the unadulterated Word is preached
and God has been glorified, the enemy attacks. During
that year, we experienced much internal strife and
unrest. However, in the midst of our season of testing,
we remained faithful and focused, and the Lord brought
us through the storm even stronger than when we
entered it.
As our church and community continued to grow with
many young families, it was time to begin the second
stage of our vision – a full-time daycare center.
Two faithful members, Deborah Marius and Michael
McDonald, were assigned the challenging task of
starting a Christian daycare center from which numerous
church members and the community-at-large have been
able to benefit.
In the fall of the year, Rev. McGensy was led by
the Holy Spirit to start planning for the next phase
of our education program...a Christian school. NorthPointe
Leadership Academy was selected as the school’s
name and Dr. Deborah Johnson-Daniel was asked to
head a planning team consisting of the pastor’s
wife, Janetta McGensy, Dr. Rosylin Bessard, Dr.
Sharron Herron, Gwendolyn Lockett, and Tina Hunt.
In May 2000, our church family witnessed its first
Deacon Ordination Service with Marshall Kelley,
Thomas Keys, Raymond Mitchell, Wesley Slade, Michael
Smith, Ralph Toles, and Jack Wilkinson being ordained. We ended the year 2000 with much joy and grace as
we continued to witness the power of God working
through us as a church body. Souls were being saved,
lives were being changed, and many were growing
in Christian maturity.
As we entered the year 2001, we were beginning to
fill up all the seats on Sunday morning, which left
no room to make visitors feel comfortable or to
reach out and bring in more unsaved. Rev. McGensy
was led to consider having two worship services.
Even through there was some initial resistance,
we witnessed the Holy Spirit bringing the congregation
together which culminated in two morning worship
services.
On February 4, 2000, Rev. McGensy announced
an inspiration he received concerning “Big Event
Day.” This day would be set aside to reach the unsaved
and unchurched in our community. Maxine McDonald
served as the Chairperson for this event, which
consisted of twenty committees, and garnered the
support of more than 80% of the church family. Big
Event Day was held the Saturday before Easter with
over 1,100 visitors taking part in workshops, games,
activities, food, and entertainment on the grounds
of Family Community Church. Many decisions for Christ
were made, while others rededicated their lives
to serving The Master. On April 15, 2000, (Easter
Sunday) two worship services were held– both were
filled to capacity.
Our congregation has grown to over 1,000 members,
which is a challenge for one shepherd to lead. In
August 2001, we were blessed to have Rev. Henry
Latunde join the staff as the Executive Director
of Ministries. Under Rev. Latunde’s direction, new
ministries have been implemented, including a Visitor’s
Ministry, headed by Steve Smith; Membership Ministry,
headed by Irv Arnold, and the Prayer Cell Group
Ministry, headed by Rev. Freddie Hayes, Pastor of
Prayer. As the Lord added to the Family Community
Church staff, we continued in prayer for God to
meet our need for a Church Administrator/Business
Manager. On January 25, 2002, Londele White joined
the church staff. We praise God for sending these
men to meet our needs for a season.
In January 2003, Family Community Church began airing
daily Christian television spots to invite people
to church, and more importantly, invite them to
a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
However, it is important to realize “the church”
is not simply a building. The Holy Spirit dwells
in each individual and “the church” is the body
of believers joined together in spirit and in love
by the Holy Spirit. Just as it is important to develop
traditions and customs in growing a family into
a united, cohesive body, so it is with the church
family. During those first years at Kastner, God
had to shape a loose aggregate of believers drawn
from many different backgrounds into a solid caring
family ready to reach out into the surrounding community
in love. Many activities, which have become traditions
were begun to give us an opportunity to fellowship
and grow together. Thanks to Pam Lee, Gloria (Jackson)
Morris, and Betty Yilma, fifth Sunday became a time
to fellowship after service over some light refreshments.
This has continued as we celebrate various special
events. Linda Simpson organized our Fourth of July
picnic at Woodward Park. Over the years we have
watched the trees grow to give more shade as we
have grown.
Additional annual events were implemented while
we were at Kastner. These include our New Year’s
Eve service and feast, Women’s Prayer Breakfast,
Vessels of Virtue Women’s Conference, and the Men’s
Prayer Breakfast – all meant to draw us closer to
Christ and bind us together in unity and in love.
To celebrate the children of Family Community Church,
Dorothy Marius started the Christmas and Easter
pageants and the annual recognition of graduates.
Each year, high school graduates who have attended
Sunday School regularly look forward to receiving
their new study Bible. The youth department has
sponsored such things as a Jesus and Music (JAM)
concert at Woodward Park and several “lock-ins”
to reach out to the lost youth around them.
Growing spiritually, and discipling new believers
is as important as growing in numbers or in our
physical structures. As we, the Body of Christ at
Family Community Church continue to be faithful
in our mission of leading the unsaved to Christ,
bring Christians to maturity by preaching and teaching
the uncompromised Word of God, and equipping every
believer for ministry, God will prove Himself faithful
to us. We, the members of Family Community Church
give Him all the praise, honor, and glory...for
He is a Great and Awesome God.
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