Church Celebrates a Century of Feeding the Community, Outreach Ministry

One-hundred years ago, in 1924, the Detroit, Michigan, area was growing but had only one local Pentecostal church. Hoping to plant a church in the suburbs which would be accessible to families who did not live in the main part of the city, a group of factory workers from the town’s primary place of employment decided to host small prayer meetings in their homes. As they met, the group of blue-collar laborers and their families knew that it was the Lord’s will for them to establish a church in their own neighborhood.

Later that year, on Aug. 25, 1924, the prayer group decided to officially join the Assemblies of God as Ecorse Pentecostal of the Assemblies of God. Within two years, another AG church, Brightmoor Assembly of God, was also birthed in a nearby suburb.

With the support of the AG fellowship, Ecorse found a storefront building to rent that was presumed to be empty. However, it didn’t take long for the church to find out that the space was being used by bootleggers in the middle of the prohibition for illegal activities and distribution. Armed with guns, those involved in the illegal activities marched up the steps of the storefront building and demanded that the church leave. But through divine protection, the police arrived in time to remove those threatening the church.

Disgruntled, the bootleg group set out to take the life of Henry Nevison, one of Ecorse’s first pastors.

However, the protection of the Lord remained and within a few years, the church had outgrown the storefront and built a permanent home in a suburb of Detroit, changing the name of the church to River Rouge AG. Still experiencing steady growth, the church purchased three lots to build a new, larger building and saw the completion of that building in 1951. This location in Lincoln Park, Michigan, is where the church remains today, now named Bethel Assembly.

Bethel Assembly faithfully continues to bring the gospel to the outskirts of Detroit, and one of the church’s largest current outreaches was started soon after the church was birthed nearly a century ago.

An original, founding member, George Clay, was saved while working at the local factory, thanks to the witness of his coworker, Arthur Shaw. (George Clay was the grandfather of General Superintendent Doug Clay.) Clay served as the church treasurer for 40 years, allowing the Lord to use him in ways that still impact the church and the community today.

When the church began to fall into financial hardship due to union strikes and the depression, Clay made small but impactful decisions as treasurer to help the church save money. For example, he decided that he would stop mailing any of the church’s checks in order to pay the bills. Instead, to save on postage costs, Clay would hand deliver them, recalls a church member in Bethel’s 75th celebration book.

When World War II broke out, companies as well as individuals began to acquire debt that made their futures seem hopeless. Determined to see the church survive, Clay mortgaged his home to pay off the church’s debt.

Doug Clay says of his grandfather, “Grandpa Clay was a true kingdom builder, passionate about the church and its mission to reach the lost and transform a community.”

But George Clay’s biggest contribution to the church was the legacy of the church’s outreach efforts which began with a loaf of bread and a few bottles of milk.

As the union strikes and layoffs continued amidst the Great Depression, Clay knew he had to help families who could not afford food. Regularly, he would go to the baker to purchase day-old bread and drive to the local creamery to pick up milk so that the church could feed the hungry. Others joined, donating canned goods, and the church’s feeding and food distribution program was born.

Bethel Assembly’s passion for feeding the hungry has lived on since Clay’s first trip to the bakery.

To this day, and even through the COVID-19 pandemic, Bethel Assembly has continually served underprivileged families in the community through a feeding or food disbursement program, says Bethel’s current pastor, Edward Agee. Today, the church serves dinner two times a month to the community and participates in a food distribution program in partnership with a local agency. On average, they serve 200 families a month.

Another point of pride for the congregation is their support of missions. Even with the small congregation, Bethel supports numerous missionaries and is generous in their missions giving, says Agee.

Agee arrived at Bethel Assembly with his wife in 2022, having served as a youth pastor for 10 years. The couple, who had long desired to start a family, was able to conceive their first child soon after being voted in and gave birth to their miracle daughter on Aug. 25, the same date as the church’s birthday.

“We have had affirmation after affirmation that this is where we are supposed to be,” says Agee. “This is the closest church family we’ve had in a while and the people here support us with anything we need.”

Bethel Assembly has purchased two adjoining buildings, giving them ownership of nearly the entire block.

Agee plans, if the Lord wills, to use their large building for expanding community outreach programs. He desires to see the church building being used every day of the week.

“I want to make sure that we are fulfilling a need in the community and following the lead of the Holy Spirit,” he says.

He hopes to continue the church’s legacy by expanding to new areas, just as Bethel was planted in an unreached area 100 years ago.