History of Nu Life Ministries Church of God in Christ
The heritage of the Nu-Life Church is deeply rooted in the ministry of prayer. It was in the Spring of 1979, in prayer, that our Founder, Pastor Emanuel White, first heard the call of God to the Pastor’s ministry. Meanwhile, he continued to attend to the duties at hand while seeking the Lord for more specific instructions. By the end of the summer the will of the Lord and a desire to see lost men, women, boys and girls saved had been deeply planted in the heart of Elder White.
By faith, Elder White, his wife and their children began holding prayer services in the living room of their home. The power of God began sweeping throughout the neighborhood. The children of the community were first attracted to the prayer services and through their testimonies of God’s saving grace the Lord was able to harness the lives of their parents.
It was in these early prayer services that the Lord revealed to Elder White a name for this ministry, the NU-LIFE CHURCH. For every new convert the Lord promised a brand new life and their first memory scripture was 2 Corinthians 5:17- “therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” God’s promise to Elder White that through him He would “build and establish a holiness church in Greensboro” was coming to past.
The living room soon became too small for the people of God. The Saints began praying that the Lord would provide a better place of worship. On November 18, 1979, the Nu-Life Church (about twelve adults and fifteen children) marched into the Faith Wesleyan Church building for our first Sunday worship service. The Pastor of the Faith Wesleyan Church, Reverend Oliver B. Dongell, had agreed to share their building for our Tuesday and Friday night services and again on Sunday at 1:00 pm. Their generous offer extended to the point that in addition to being able to build a Sunday School Ministry, Nu-Life had its very first Christmas Program and initiated its first building fund project from the premises of the Faith Wesleyan Church on Lawrence Street, Greensboro, North Carolina. “Words of Inspiration” Radio Broadcast that aired every Saturday morning on the 950 AM dial was birthed during this same period.
The favor of God continued to abide with Nu-Life. Throughout the eight months of residence in the Faith Wesleyan Church the Saints prayed, not only for the needs of the community, but that God would help us to buy a place of our own. Aside from the inconvenience of the Sunday Worship hour, the needs of God’s people necessitated a perseverance in prayer for God to move speedily towards providing a place of worship. On June 23, 1980, the Nu-Life Church family, again, marched into another building. This new building, purchased by faith, was to be the home of Nu-Life Church Of god In Christ, located at 2306 Floyd Street, Greensboro, North Carolina. The first Nu-Life Summer Fun Club operated six weeks under the leadership of then, Sister Wanda White, Sister Cheryl Benjamin and Sister Cynthia Gamble. Like Moses, on the backside of the desert, Pastor White, continued developing the Church Ministries and nurturing the Saints in the Word of God and Prayer/Shut-in Services. In addition to this, by 1982, the Nu-Life Outreach Mission, located in Danville, Virginia had been prayed out.
The Nu-Life Church Family understands the meaning of the words, “that without faith it is impossible to please God” and that “they that trust in the Lord shall be as Mt Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth forever.” The hearts and minds of these people are attuned to the call to prayer and building lives for God as in the day when God first commissioned this ministry. Elder White kept the vision of the Church before the saints “to build a holiness church…in south side Greensboro.”
To keep this vision fervent in the future, the Church, purchased land in 1986 and built its current site at 209 West Florida Street, Greensboro, North Carolina. The Church opened the doors of its Child Care Ministry, officially, on April 12, 1990. Its first Director, Sister JoAnn White and her staff, provided a loving and nurturing environment for more than forty children. On November 24, 1996 the Nu-Life Child Ministry building was officially, dedicated and renamed the “JoAnn C. White Building” in honor of her six years of labor without ceasing as Director and commemoration of her retiring to the home to minister to her children and husband.
In 1991, we printed the first issue of our Gospel Newsletter, “The Nu-Life Line.” The Lord is constantly reaffirming the vision of the ministry in our spirits, that we, as a people possess the “power for change!” The vision remains alive at Nu-Life to “impart the Gospel to every creature, everywhere.” To provide additional space and broaden the scope of ministries that can be provided in our community, especially among the youth, ground was broken on our Family Life Center in 1997. An ongoing concern for the involvement of youth, led to the organizing of the Y.E.S. Team (Youth of Extraordinary Spirit) during the Spring of 1998. This ministry opened to individuals 8 to 25 years old. The YES Team’s mission is to praise God and witness through creative expressions of drama, art, song and praise dance, along with helping to shape the lives of young men, young women, boys and girls for the Glory of God!
The Family Life Center was completed in 2001 and on April 7, 2002 the Center was dedicated and renamed in honor of Nu-Life first Church Mother and our Founding Pastor’s natural Mother, the “Mother Erva L. White Family Life Center.” When fully operational, the Center will provide a Christian atmosphere in which to house a computer lab, training/tutorial program, recreational activities for our youth and the community in a wholesome environment as well as a food/clothing bank for the needy.
On October 22, 2005 the Breakfast Outreach Ministry began operating from the Erva L. White Family Life Center. This Outreach Ministry to the homeless, hungry, needy and whosoever will come seeks to fulfill the words of Jesus, St. Matthew 4:4…”man shall not live by bread alone…” and is officially known as the NOT BY BREAD ALONE Breakfast Ministry. As few as thirty and as many as 200 hot breakfast plates complete with coffee, juice or water are served each Saturday morning, in addition, to a spoken Word of Hope, Encouragement and Faith, along with the availability of individual Bible counseling to all who attend. Mother White and her kitchen staff’s culinary arts are well known in the community and among the city’s forgotten and down trodden.
On September 13, 2009, the Founding Pastor of Nu-Life Ministries’ COGIC, INC took an “early morning train home” but his labor of LOVE and his legacy of FAITH shall never be forgotten. By the Will of the Lord, on December 7, 2009, our current ministry gifts, Pastor Larry Lynn and Elect Lady Clara B. Lynn were officially installed by the presiding Prelate of Greater North Carolina COGIC, Bishop Leroy Jackson Woolard. Pastor Lynn and his wife have endeavored to continue building upon the foundation of Prayer, Love, the Word and Faith.
Pastor Lynn is a servant leader. He not only sets the spiritual tone of the ministry but he willingly labors alongside the sheep of his pastorate. By Faith, he and Elect Lady Lynn, lovingly gives themselves to the ministry and in service to the people of God. The devil still has an on the job adversary in the city of Greensboro and we, the membership of Nu-Life Ministries COGIC INC. know that the victory is ours through Jesus Christ!
By faith, Elder White, his wife and their children began holding prayer services in the living room of their home. The power of God began sweeping throughout the neighborhood. The children of the community were first attracted to the prayer services and through their testimonies of God’s saving grace the Lord was able to harness the lives of their parents.
It was in these early prayer services that the Lord revealed to Elder White a name for this ministry, the NU-LIFE CHURCH. For every new convert the Lord promised a brand new life and their first memory scripture was 2 Corinthians 5:17- “therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” God’s promise to Elder White that through him He would “build and establish a holiness church in Greensboro” was coming to past.
The living room soon became too small for the people of God. The Saints began praying that the Lord would provide a better place of worship. On November 18, 1979, the Nu-Life Church (about twelve adults and fifteen children) marched into the Faith Wesleyan Church building for our first Sunday worship service. The Pastor of the Faith Wesleyan Church, Reverend Oliver B. Dongell, had agreed to share their building for our Tuesday and Friday night services and again on Sunday at 1:00 pm. Their generous offer extended to the point that in addition to being able to build a Sunday School Ministry, Nu-Life had its very first Christmas Program and initiated its first building fund project from the premises of the Faith Wesleyan Church on Lawrence Street, Greensboro, North Carolina. “Words of Inspiration” Radio Broadcast that aired every Saturday morning on the 950 AM dial was birthed during this same period.
The favor of God continued to abide with Nu-Life. Throughout the eight months of residence in the Faith Wesleyan Church the Saints prayed, not only for the needs of the community, but that God would help us to buy a place of our own. Aside from the inconvenience of the Sunday Worship hour, the needs of God’s people necessitated a perseverance in prayer for God to move speedily towards providing a place of worship. On June 23, 1980, the Nu-Life Church family, again, marched into another building. This new building, purchased by faith, was to be the home of Nu-Life Church Of god In Christ, located at 2306 Floyd Street, Greensboro, North Carolina. The first Nu-Life Summer Fun Club operated six weeks under the leadership of then, Sister Wanda White, Sister Cheryl Benjamin and Sister Cynthia Gamble. Like Moses, on the backside of the desert, Pastor White, continued developing the Church Ministries and nurturing the Saints in the Word of God and Prayer/Shut-in Services. In addition to this, by 1982, the Nu-Life Outreach Mission, located in Danville, Virginia had been prayed out.
The Nu-Life Church Family understands the meaning of the words, “that without faith it is impossible to please God” and that “they that trust in the Lord shall be as Mt Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth forever.” The hearts and minds of these people are attuned to the call to prayer and building lives for God as in the day when God first commissioned this ministry. Elder White kept the vision of the Church before the saints “to build a holiness church…in south side Greensboro.”
To keep this vision fervent in the future, the Church, purchased land in 1986 and built its current site at 209 West Florida Street, Greensboro, North Carolina. The Church opened the doors of its Child Care Ministry, officially, on April 12, 1990. Its first Director, Sister JoAnn White and her staff, provided a loving and nurturing environment for more than forty children. On November 24, 1996 the Nu-Life Child Ministry building was officially, dedicated and renamed the “JoAnn C. White Building” in honor of her six years of labor without ceasing as Director and commemoration of her retiring to the home to minister to her children and husband.
In 1991, we printed the first issue of our Gospel Newsletter, “The Nu-Life Line.” The Lord is constantly reaffirming the vision of the ministry in our spirits, that we, as a people possess the “power for change!” The vision remains alive at Nu-Life to “impart the Gospel to every creature, everywhere.” To provide additional space and broaden the scope of ministries that can be provided in our community, especially among the youth, ground was broken on our Family Life Center in 1997. An ongoing concern for the involvement of youth, led to the organizing of the Y.E.S. Team (Youth of Extraordinary Spirit) during the Spring of 1998. This ministry opened to individuals 8 to 25 years old. The YES Team’s mission is to praise God and witness through creative expressions of drama, art, song and praise dance, along with helping to shape the lives of young men, young women, boys and girls for the Glory of God!
The Family Life Center was completed in 2001 and on April 7, 2002 the Center was dedicated and renamed in honor of Nu-Life first Church Mother and our Founding Pastor’s natural Mother, the “Mother Erva L. White Family Life Center.” When fully operational, the Center will provide a Christian atmosphere in which to house a computer lab, training/tutorial program, recreational activities for our youth and the community in a wholesome environment as well as a food/clothing bank for the needy.
On October 22, 2005 the Breakfast Outreach Ministry began operating from the Erva L. White Family Life Center. This Outreach Ministry to the homeless, hungry, needy and whosoever will come seeks to fulfill the words of Jesus, St. Matthew 4:4…”man shall not live by bread alone…” and is officially known as the NOT BY BREAD ALONE Breakfast Ministry. As few as thirty and as many as 200 hot breakfast plates complete with coffee, juice or water are served each Saturday morning, in addition, to a spoken Word of Hope, Encouragement and Faith, along with the availability of individual Bible counseling to all who attend. Mother White and her kitchen staff’s culinary arts are well known in the community and among the city’s forgotten and down trodden.
On September 13, 2009, the Founding Pastor of Nu-Life Ministries’ COGIC, INC took an “early morning train home” but his labor of LOVE and his legacy of FAITH shall never be forgotten. By the Will of the Lord, on December 7, 2009, our current ministry gifts, Pastor Larry Lynn and Elect Lady Clara B. Lynn were officially installed by the presiding Prelate of Greater North Carolina COGIC, Bishop Leroy Jackson Woolard. Pastor Lynn and his wife have endeavored to continue building upon the foundation of Prayer, Love, the Word and Faith.
Pastor Lynn is a servant leader. He not only sets the spiritual tone of the ministry but he willingly labors alongside the sheep of his pastorate. By Faith, he and Elect Lady Lynn, lovingly gives themselves to the ministry and in service to the people of God. The devil still has an on the job adversary in the city of Greensboro and we, the membership of Nu-Life Ministries COGIC INC. know that the victory is ours through Jesus Christ!