History

The First Church of God Greensboro was established in 1940.  That church existed on Muirs Chapel Rd for several years.  The campus established there consisted of the sanctuary, fellowship hall, and classrooms for Sunday school.  The population continued to grow.  The current deacons refused to expand the campus footprint to accommodate new members that exceed the existing capacity.  The church began a slow but steady decline.

In the early 1990s, they realized that the church had to close or become creative.  Through a series of meetings, the current members decided that they would do a relaunch.  Maxine McCall, the current North Carolina State Director of the General Assembly of the Church of God, came to facilitate the church’s transition.

In 1992, they began to have services and meetings designed to determine the nature of the relaunch.  They also called a pastor to lead them.  Rodger McKenzie was a doctoral student at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School near Chicago.  He came after the leadership team, under the direction of Rev. McCall, had decided to close First Church to relaunch with renewed purpose and a different identity both in the church and community.

Using demographic data, they began to make calls and to see if people were interested in receiving more information about this relaunch.  They had one survey question in addition to “Would you like more information about the church?”  The other question was, “If you were looking for a church, how would that church serve your needs?”  This telemarketing strategy created an interest list of about 500 names of people that would like more information about the church start.  Most people in the survey said they wanted childcare and elder care. However, when the relaunch date was established, the existing members approached the pastor the week before the relaunch and informed him that they would be leaving the church.  They no longer had the energy to put into this effort at their ages.  Chuck Brown, the current board chairman, and the rest of Rogers’s team decided to go forth with the relaunch.  One hundred sixty-seven people showed up on the weekend in mid-February 1993 with Saturday evening and Sunday morning services.  Representative, Howard Coble was invited and showed up that first Sunday.  The first song was from Cheers, “Where Everybody Knows Your Name.”  One of the following songs was a James Taylor song, “You’ve got a friend.”  Roger McKenzie’s sermon delivery style was that of a teacher, and those in attendance appreciated it.  Regular attendance became between 70 and 80 people.

Most of the church attendees reached during the telemarketing campaign came to the expectation that the church would serve them.  They weren’t prepared for nor accepted the expectation of service or spiritual growth.  These expectations caused people to leave the church.  These attendees also did not understand principles such as tithing, and thus the church had difficulty meeting expenses.

The leadership decided to sell the property on Muir’s Chapel Road, where Hope Christian Fellowship is today.  They would use these funds to support ministry efforts.  The remaining members continued to meet at the Pepper Tree Inn on West Market Street, Greensboro. It was a mobile church.  The church trailer had instruments, recording and amplification equipment, children’s church materials, songbooks, chairs, and a podium.

After six years, Dr. McKenzie felt the call to become a university professor of Religion at Southern Wesleyan University in South Carolina.  Roger called Sheldon Southerland and discussed that he felt the call to leave the ministry at Friendship, but sensed God might be calling him to serve as senior pastor at Friendship Community Church of God.   After a few meetings with the congregation, they asked Sheldon Southerland to come and serve as Senior Pastor in 1997.

The congregation continued to meet at the Peppertree Inn until 2000.  The assembly bought the property at 201 College Road, Greensboro, NC, from the city of Greensboro in 1999 and spent a year renovating the space for church service.  They had our first service in that space in 2000 and are currently at the exact location.  Sheldon Southerland still serves as senior pastor.  The core values, Constitution, Bylaws, Servant Leader, and Leadership Council covenants remain as previously established under the leadership of Dr. Roger McKenzie.  The only substantive change is the structure of Committees.  We have moved from a standing committee structure to a “project team” structure, allowing for greater flexibility and efficiency in executing plans.  The Leadership Council serves as portfolio managers.