Church History
While praying in January, 1987, the Lord placed a pastoral unction in the spirit of Elder Aaron B. Lackey (now Bishop Aaron B. Through much prayer and counseling, Elder Lackey began to make preparations to enter the pastoral ministry. In December, 1987, the Holy Ghost led Elder Lackey to 757 Dill Avenue, Atlanta, GA, to inquire about a vacant storefront building. A few weeks later
an agreement was made between Elder Lackey and the landlord of the property. God touched the heart of the landlord and he completely renovated the inside of the building for us and we were truly excited about our beautiful, but tiny, 800 square feet sanctuary. Being inspired by St. Mark 11:15-17, the Temple of Prayer Family Worship Center (a United Church of God in Christ congregation) was officially organized on February 14, 1988, which was the 2nd Sunday of the month. The Lord blessed us mightily, and we worshipped at 757 Dill Avenue until January, 1991. In January, 1991, the church moved to 161 Senoia Road, Fairburn, GA (currently used as our Chapel). We shared this facility with the St. John AME Church until God allowed us to purchase it in January, 1992. The mortgage on that property was eliminated in May, 1998. From 1999 until 2001, we purchased several pieces of property that were adjacent to and across the street from our Chapel. In August, 2001, we began erecting our current Worship/Multipurpose Facility on the lot next to our Chapel. God was very gracious during the building process and we had our first service in our current facility in December, 2001 (only 4 months later). God has allowed us to experience phenomenal growth since our inception. The divine providence of God has allowed Bishop Lackey and Temple of Prayer to literally minister to the masses all over the world weekly through CDs, DVDs, Live Streaming and “On Demand” through the World Wide Web. Bishop Lackey has also personally ministered throughout the United States and several foreign countries. Through God's divine providence, Temple of Prayer has prospered from being a "storefront church" to becoming the International Headquarters of a major denomination, the United Churches of God in Christ, Inc. (http://ucogic.org). Temple of Prayer Family Worship Center has never strayed from its ministerial vision, which is to: "Exemplify Holiness, With a Standard of Excellence!"
