History of Abundant Life Assembly
First Assembly of God was chartered on March 27, 1922, under the ministry of Reverend Clyde Bailey. The church began in a building on East Marion Street. Mary Griffin owned the church and parsonage and told Brother Bailey he could have both buildings as long as he was pastor there. Brother Bailey was a very interesting man. At one time he was the Chief of Police and while pastoring, was a deputy sheriff. He went to Herrin many times during the "Bloody Williamson" (http://www.prairieghosts.com/bloody_will.html) era to help in police matters. He often preached fitted with a bullet-proof vest. He related stories of close calls in which God protected him during that violent era.
A committed minister for the Lord, Brother Bailey would also ride his bicycle to Creal Springs, Illinois to preach there. He was a man who always had missions at heart and pioneered new churches.
After Brother Bailey ceased pastoring in Marion, Rev. Carl Ausberry became the pastor. He was followed by Pastor B.R. Hall. Later, Brothers Pankey, Matheney, McGinnis, Randolph, Sandefer, Halloway, and Kelley each led the flock.
Sometime around 1950 the church on Marion Street, which was running 225-250, outgrew its tiny building. A new building was needed so the church purchased the property on 2310 West Main Street. To build the building, the church purchased an old building called the Auto Machine Shop for materials under the leadership of Reverend Louis Hebbeler. This machine shop was located just off the square in Marion. Men such as Harris Schafer would load up the bricks to take them out to the building site on the west edge of town. The teenagers and the ladies of the church cleaned the old mortar of each and every brick; no easy task.
The whole congregation worked together to construct the West Main Street building. After working at their jobs all day, the late James Logsdon and Bob Jones (still a member of the church today) would work digging the foundation until late at night. The late Nellie Hersinger and her daughter Mary Lou Jackson had a concession stand where they sold hamburgers, hotdogs, ice cream, and other goodies to help raise money for the building. Many ladies also got together and made apple butter at Sister Hersinger's house. The proceeds from these sales were also donated to the building fund. The late Harry Shafer furnished a big copper kettle to cook the apple butter in. Bob Jones went up north to get theatre seats for the auditorium.
Rev. Norman Surratt was the pastor from 1959 to 1963. In 1963 Rev. Roy Baker became pastor. Pastor Roy Baker resigned in 1968 to pastor to return to Creal Springs to pastor there.
There were a few short term pastors between 1968 and 1973, among them were Revs.Roach, Coffman, Woodard, and Richard Hart. Rev. Hart worked very hard to remodel and update the building.
Then in 1973 Pastor Roy Baker resumed pastoring the church. He served the church for more than 30 years. The building at West Main Street was home to the congregation until August 6, 1995 at which time the congregation moved into its newly constructed facility at 1409 East DeYoung Street. Pastor Roy led the congregation in constructing phase one of the present facility.
On August 6, 1995, the first service was held in the fellowship hall. It was at this time the church was renamed Abundant Life Assembly of God. As a part of our 75th anniversary celebration the congregation moved into phase two, the sanctuary and offices, in April of 1997.
In June of 1995, Pastor Jeff Baker joined his father as CO-Pastor of the church. In January of 1997 Pastor Jeff assumed the role of Senior Pastor and the board conferred the title Pastor Emeritus (honorary pastor) upon Pastor Roy Baker.
The Assemblies of God grew out of the Pentecostal revival, which began in the early 1900s in places such as Topeka, Kansas, and the Azusa Street Mission in Los Angeles. During times of prayer and Bible study, believers received spiritual experiences like those described in the book of Acts. Accompanied by “speaking in tongues,” their religious experiences were associated with the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Jewish feast of Pentecost (Acts 2), and participants in the movement were dubbed “Pentecostals.” The Pentecostal movement has grown from a handful of Bible school students in Topeka, Kansas, to an estimated 600 million in the world today.
Many participants who were baptized in the Holy Spirit during revivals and camp meetings in the early 1900s were not welcomed back to their former churches. These believers started many small churches throughout the country and communicated through publications that reported on the revivals. In 1913, a Pentecostal publication, the Word and Witness, called for the independent churches to band together for the purpose of fellowship and doctrinal unity. Other concerns for facilitating missionaries, chartering churches and forming a Bible training school were also on the agenda.
Some 300 Pentecostals met at an opera house in Hot Springs, Arkansas, in 1914, and agreed to form a new fellowship of loosely knit independent churches. These churches were left with the needed autonomy to develop and govern their own local ministries, yet they were united in their message and efforts to reach the world for Christ. So began the General Council of the Assemblies of God.
Assemblies of God churches form a cooperative fellowship. As a result, the organization operates from the grass roots, allowing the local church to choose and develop ministries and facilities best suited for its local needs.
