On May 20th, 1990, twenty-six people who believed that God had a work to be done in the Atlanta area, gathered in a small

room at the Royal Inn Plaza Hotel in Hapeville (now known as the Best Western), to hold service, and Living Faith Tabernacle

was born.  They began with nothing, having to trust the Lord to provide everything, even the offering pans.  Living Faith

rented the facility under a six-month contract, and even rented a three-legged piano there. Each Sunday morning, the

songbooks, drums, and PA system (which was a boom-box and microphone) were carried in.  In the beginning, just two

Sunday services were held, 11:00 am and 6:00 pm.

 

After the first six months, the Lord led Pastor Chris Bowen to Forest Park, where he located an old Majik Market building.

They rented this building for 12 months, with the option to purchase it after that year, with $20,000 down payment. The Lord

provided the funds miraculously, and Living Faith was well on its way to growth.  More property was soon needed, so bulldozers

were brought in to create more parking, and an office building was added to the back of the property.  The church building was

completely renovated a few months later, costing nearly $20,000, of which only $7,000 was financed.  Living Faith added a

kitchen, new carpet, a steeple, stucco to the building, new doors and windows, and enlarged the classrooms.

 

In September of 1993, the vision continued to grow, and LFT needed more land for parking and additional classrooms. There was

a house next door to the church, which was purchased for $70,000, again with $20,000 down.  This building was appropriately

named, “ The Faith House”.  At this point, the church became strong in outreach for home missions, and in 1994, assisted in feeding

over 60,000 homeless and clothing over 1200 people in the Atlanta area.  Currently, over 26,000 sandwiches are prepared annually

by our seniors, and we have the Living Faith food pantry and clothes closet in full swing, providing the needs of many within the

community each week.

 

In March of 1996, Living Faith was blessed to move into their new sanctuary, which was an addition to the original building.  The new sanctuary seated 300, and was furnished with a baptismal pool, stained glass windows, a new foyer, bathrooms, nursery, and Jr. Church room.

 

In October of 1998, God blessed Living Faith with 27 acres of land at 5880 Old Dixie Road, to begin the fourth expansion program.  On June 2nd, 2001, Living Faith moved into this beautiful new facility, which seated over 600.  The church soon experienced so much growth, that construction was necessary again, and the 5th project was begun.  This was completed by June of 2003, doubling the seating capacity to around 1300.  This building has 21 classrooms, a bookstore, and a modern youth sanctuary, which holds about 200 young people. A pavilion was built beside the church, which hosts wonderful times of food and fellowship.  A youth game room has recently been completed, and 100 much needed additional parking spaces are currently being added to the property.  What now serves as our sanctuary will eventually become the gymnasium, and the facility will be our Youth building, housing a complete K-12 school.  We are also completing 3 sports fields.  In the future, LFT will also house a High-rise for our seniors.  The Lord is preparing us all for the growth He is bringing to Living Faith, and we look forward to breaking ground on a completely new sanctuary in the near future.

 

Living Faith has ministries and activities for all ages.  The adult choir sings each Sunday Morning.   Men’s and Ladies’ groups meet on a monthly basis to share times of fellowship and fun.  We offer singles groups, substance addiction support groups, bereavement ministries, youth and junior choirs, a drama team that ministers many places, step and hip-hop teams, dance and flag ministries, many sport tournaments, such as bowling, golf and ping-pong, and something for everyone with monthly scheduled activities.  We opened the Living Faith Christian Academy in August of 2002, providing loving, quality childcare to the community until April 2018. In August 2008 the Rising SON Academy housing grades K-5 through 6th opened, offering the students of Clayton County a Christian atmosphere in which to learn and grow academically until May 2012.

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In January 2017, Pastor Chris Bowen passed the torch of pastor to Pastor Jeremy C. Tuck of Newnan, GA. Pastor Tuck, who had successfully run a church of 300 members, immediately began working hard to make sure that the transition did not slow down nor stop LFT’s commitment to the community and its members. During 2017 LFT implemented recognition of “Autism Awareness Month” with an all-inclusive service dedicated to celebrating those who live with autism and bringing awareness to the subject itself.

 

Living Faith also hosts a Hispanic service each Sunday to minister to the needs of the community.  This Hispanic ministry was launched in 2003, and presently runs over 120 in attendance each week at 1:30 pm on Sunday afternoon and 7:30 pm each Tuesday.

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Living Faith is committed to serve the community of Forest Park by showing God’s love and compassion to all, and our goals of expansion are for the sole purpose of winning lost souls on the Southside of Atlanta for the Kingdom of God.  To Him be all the glory and honor forever.  Amen!