Bible Teacher. Pastor.Educator.

Transitions and Expansions!! Southside and Northside.....

                 I wanted to officially inform you all that I am stepping away from my responsibilities as a Youth pastor at New Beginnings Church on August 12, 2018. After spending two years with this organization, I have had the opportunity to learn so much about myself, inner city ministry, and strategies for reaching unchurched teenagers. When the Lord called me to move to Chicago I know that being a part of New Beginnings Church was definitely a part of His plan.

It has become a home away from home and the kindness that I experienced there when I arrived is exactly what I needed for that season in my life
                  That being stated, a lot of evolving has taken place within myself this year and I as I prayed for God to show me the next steps, He opened the doors for me to extend my ministry to the North Side of Chicago! After much prayer, I have accepted a position at North Side Gospel Center as their Associate Pastor of Evangelism and Outreach! I have also accepted a position to serve with the non profit organization, Slingshots, as their Assistant Director. Both of these opportunities will be under the leadership of my long time friend and mentor, Bob Anderson. I was unsure about these moves initially because it will be such a huge change in my life, however I realize it is a chance to grow in my leadership and it gives me a broader audience of teengers to reach. 

           Even though my primary church will now be on the North side of Chicago, I will be continuing to facilitate club events and do ministry work with Youth for Christ on the Southside! This new transition is the Lord’s way of enlarging my territory and blessing me with the responsibility of working on both sides of the greater Chicago area! I am excited about God’s Will for my life and I have to follow His directions. There were parts of me that were hesitant, but I know that just as I was blessed at New Beginnings, I will be blessed at North Side Gospel Center.Please keep me and both churches in your prayers! I greatly appreciate you all! 

Respectfully 

Pastor James Owolabi! 

 

Pinelake Church | History

History

It’s hard to believe that what began in a mobile chapel located on Spillway Road in February of 1971 would grow to become the church that we experience today, where people from all over Mississippi join together in multiple locations for worship each Sunday.

The story of Pinelake Church is the work of a great and powerful God, who in His mercy determined He would pour out His blessing on a group of simple people who committed to His fame. That journey has involved three Senior Pastors since the inception of the church, all providing timely and providential leadership during their tenure. 

It was in January of 1999 that God brought Dr. Chip Henderson, the current pastor, to lead the congregation. It was quickly apparent there would not be enough space at the Spillway Road location for what God intended to do through the congregation. A little over a year later, in February 2000, the leadership of the church was led to begin an aggressive search for a new location that would provide the necessary room to reach more people.

In November 2000, the church met on land off of Lakeland Drive to dedicate the immense and beautiful 170 acres that God had provided as a new location. The property was strategically located in the growth corridor of Rankin County and was connected to the main highway that bisects the Reservoir community.

As the new facility was built and the church prepared itself for relocation, God was busy adding to the church body. He continued to work through the leadership reminding His people that church isn’t about physical buildings; it’s about God working in His people. In the next three years, the church would grow to five services and welcome almost 2,500 people to worship every weekend.

By November 2003, the new facility was completed and the Pinelake congregation held its first services at the new Lakeland location. And while the new facilities were wonderful, it was the journey with God over the previous five years that would forever mark the people.

Through 2004 and 2005, God would add more than 1500 weekly attendees to the church, bringing the Sunday attendance to more than 4,000 people. Through that incredible growth the church discovered that the joy was not in the number of people, but in the individuals that were being changed through the power of a life-altering encounter with Jesus Christ.

In 2006, the Pinelake Elders and Senior Leadership Team felt God leading the church to expand through launching additional campuses in Central Mississippi. This emphasis would drive the church to pursue the vision of “expanding its Jerusalem.” In the fall of 2006, the church launched the second Pinelake campus in the Madison/Ridgeland area, meeting in Ridgeland High School. In January of 2009, Pinelake launched its third campus in Clinton, Mississippi. In 2011, the fourth campus in the Starkville area launched. And in April 2012, Pinelake Madison opened its long-awaited permant home in the Gluckstadt community in Madison County. Today, more than 9000 people attend weekly worship at one of Pinelake's four campuses.

In addition, the church has made a significant commitment to further multiply the blessing that God had brought by significant investment in next generation ministry training, church planting, global mission expansion and resource development.

Pinelake remains a church committed to being a movement of God where its people expectantly live out Christ-centered, Spirit-led, ongoing stories of Life Change. Our mission is to help people in Mississippi and around the world live out this vision of Life Change by developing Christ-followers who Learn from Christ, Live for Christ, and Lead others to Christ (L3).

via pinelake.org