He was chosen by God and given the vision to organize the Evangelistic Crusaders Church of God in Christ in 1972. Elder Liggins, along with his wife, Mother Georgia Liggins, consulted God concerning a prime location for the Church. Cottage Grove Avenue (now the Crusaders Dining Room). After being assured that the Lord was with them, they organized and began worship services in 1973. Among the orig
inal organizers were: Deacon Robert and Mother Nellie Anderson, Deacon Walter Warfield, Mother Annie M Goodman, Mother Mamie Till Mobley and Sister Margaret Rule. From the very beginning, God’s favor was upon the ministry. One of Elder Liggins favorite sayings was “if you give God a life—he’ll give you a ministry"—another was "if you take care of God’s business—he’ll take care of yours". These two sayings proved true in the life of Elder Liggins and in the life of the ministry. Under the leadership of Pastor Liggins, the little storefront became a beautiful dining room; the old-burned out A&P store next door-- became the Evangelistic Crusaders main sanctuary and offices. As the ministry continued to grow, the main sanctuary and offices was replaced by a new larger, sanctuary. God’s blessings were truly upon this ministry and continue to be today. On Feb 19, 2003 (Elder Liggins’ 86th birthday), our beloved founder and Pastor was summoned home by God. Some would say his departure was unexpected. Pastor Liggins often said” the day that you arrived on earth—reservations had already been made for your departure. The problem is that you don’t know the departure date. But -if you plan to spend eternity in the presence of the Lord, Elder Liggins would tell you to take Route 66—starting at Genesis 1:1, get into the word/will of God and stay there until you meet God in the Clouds. (You’ll get that next week). We are in the midst of celebrating our 40th year in ministry. Today, we salute our Founding First Lady, Mother Georgia Liggins. We are honored and blessed to have her yet working in the vineyard here at the ministry she and her husband, Superintendent George Liggins, started 40 years ago. We will be celebrating Mother Liggins and remembering the blessings God has bestowed upon us down through the years during our anniversary festivities. Our Crusaders Choir Reunion will be Friday, July 26th and Saturday, July 27th. Also on Saturday, July 27th we will have a day of fun and reminiscing from 11am – 5pm. On that day, we will be remembering those who have made contributions to this ministry. We will show old movies and have activities for the children. Please start now providing old pictures you may have or other memorabilia you would like to share related to this ministry. There will be an open mic segment to also share memories.
