It’s not every day that a young man walks in and says he wants to reach your community for Christ, but that’s exactly what happened to Bill King in July 2013.
King, director of missions for Tuskegee Lee Baptist Association, met Courtney Bullard when he was still a student at Auburn University.
Bullard, who grew up in Opelika and was a member of Bethel #2 Baptist Church, Opelika, has been preaching since he was 16. Now in his late 20s, Bullard sensed God’s call on his life to reach out to the Opelika area, specifically the youth, and spoke with King about planting a church through the association.
King met several times with Bullard, and the association’s church planting committee helped train and equip Bullard to plant a church to reach the African-American community. This will be the second predominantly black church to cooperate with Tuskegee Lee Association, the first being Rock of Ages Baptist Church, Tuskegee.
The new church plant — Sanctuary of Faith Worship Center — meets in the building that formerly housed the association’s East View Baptist Church, which had been sitting empty for several years, King noted. He was “excited to see a new church” use it.
On Nov. 17, 2013, Sanctuary of Faith held its first service. Bullard noted that it was more of a soft launch and that Feb. 2 will be its official launch date since it now has a handful people attending regularly.
“My hope is to see the community become really reached physically and spiritually,” Bullard said, noting the church’s mission is to evangelize, empower and equip. He plans to attend New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary through an extension campus in Atlanta in the future.
Central Baptist Church, Opelika, and its pastor Scott Ferguson will serve in a mentor role with Bullard and Sanctuary of Faith.
For more information, visit www.sofwc.org.
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