Dark Times Bring Good News

Despite shrinking attendance nationwide and diminished church influence in American society, evangelist Greg D. Hubbard is more excited about what God is doing today than when he and his wife, Robyn, formed Hubbard Ministries in 1985.

A graduate of the University of Valley Forge and a former youth pastor, Hubbard sees a great hunger at present for a move of God and more of the Holy Spirit.

While acknowledging that a cultural shift has led the nation in a less-godly direction and that biblical illiteracy is at an all-time high, Hubbard says the Lord is moving dramatically amid the darkness.

“We’re seeing such a hunger in the Church for a move of God,” says Hubbard, who recently preached in West Springfield, Massachusetts, an hour east of his hometown of Pittsfield. “Even outside the Church we’re seeing an openness. We’ve never been more thrilled about the call of an evangelist. We feel the harvest is ripe.”

Not only are many tired of the heated political climate and the deep division in the nation, they are appreciating that only Jesus can fill the void, Hubbard says. While many perceive this as a dark, hopeless time, Hubbard says it’s never been easier for people to accept Christ and receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

In modern times, the evangelist says a lesson he learned from a mentor long ago is still relevant: don’t overlook the fundamentals. He tries to impart teaching tools to help in daily life.

“We’re spending more time equipping people on how to become an effective soul winner and dealing with practical ways on how to engage others,” Hubbard says. “Many people have given up on the idea of personal evangelism because they feel inadequate.”

Hubbard says he sensed God calling him to the field soon after accepting Christ as Savior at 17, a week after hearing the gospel for the first time during a basketball tournament.

After college, where he and Robyn (a musician and integral part of the ministry) met, they moved to his hometown. After a short stay, they settled at Bethany Assembly of God in nearby Agawam. There, he says Pastor Edward Berkey nurtured his evangelistic calling by allowing him to preach often.

While some consider New England rocky soil spiritually, Hubbard says it isn’t much different than places like Romania, India, and South America, where they spend three months a year.

“It’s amazing how we see different people and cultures, but that same emptiness wherever we go,” Hubbard says. “It’s still the same Jesus and the same power to heal and set people free.”

Although the Hubbards travel 40 weeks a year, Pastor Bryan D. Koch says the couple plays an important role in the life of GT Church (formerly Glad Tidings AG) in West Lawn, Pennsylvania.

After a pronounced growth spurt in 2009, the multisite church averages more than 2,500 in weekly attendance; last year the church recorded 800 conversions. The Hubbards made GT their home church 19 years ago after moving to eastern Pennsylvania from New England.

“When he’s here he preaches and we see salvations and baptisms in the Holy Spirit,” says Koch, GT’s pastor for 30 years. “He brings what an evangelist does; he operates in the gifts. We bring him and Robyn prayer support.”

GT Church provides financial assistance as well, with significant love offerings when the Hubbards are home. The church pays the family’s annual health insurance premiums.

The congregation also participates annually in at least two of the ministry’s overseas mission trips, which — among other things — has included planting churches in Africa and building a ministry center to reach and disciple children from the slums in Kolkata, India.

“Greg is a genuine evangelist,” Koch says. “He preaches repentance, salvation, baptism, and the Second Coming.”

Hubbard sees one of his leading challenges as believing God for a fresh word and staying focused on “keeping the main thing the main thing.”

“We want to see every church explode in revival,” Hubbard says. “We have a passion to see everyone get filled with the Spirit. We don’t want to get so comfortable we can’t see God stretch us. We see a great need for God to raise up more evangelists.”