Past
Agape' Christian Church is an independent, nondenominational Christian church. We began in 1973 under the leadership of L. Daniel Wolfe, our founding pastor, who was a former United Brethren pastor and missionary. Dan had a heart and passion to impact the lives of young people with the reality of the Gospel during those turbulent years. Literally hundreds of people were coming to know Jesus Christ as their Savior and awakening to a relationship with the living God! When the church first began, we met together in house groups during the week and in rented facilities each Sunday for our Celebration Service. Over a three-year period we traveled from the Y.W.C.A to the Kalamazoo Christian High School gym to the Kalamazoo Center downtown. By late 1976 we purchased the old Green Stamp Redemption Center in the Washington Square neighborhood and transformed it into a ministry center that reached people throughout SW Michigan. Many families moved into the neighborhood, which had a powerful impact in the community. We also established a sister church in Reston, Virginia, where Dan Wolfe became Senior Pastor in 1987.
Present
After 15 years of continual growth we were bursting at the seams with young families and children at the Agape' Center on Portage Road. We began a search and were pleased to find and purchase our present facility at 609 Cherokee Street in August of 1988. This new ministry center with a gymnasium, full kitchen, lots of classrooms, baptismal, fellowship hall for receptions and a sanctuary that seats approximately 325, has given us the ability to expand our ministry base extensively. Our three-point mission statement: "Equipping, Growing and Proclaiming" and our message: "Building Community in Christ to Reach our Community For Christ" has given us exciting rallying points for ministry as we move into the 21st. century.
Future
As we move into the future, we will continue to rely on the guidance of the Holy Spirit. As He directs us, we believe that our impact in our community will be a blessing and an encouragement. As our ministry expands, our heartfelt desire is that God will be glorified through us.