Greater Bethlehem Temple Church was founded in 1954 by Elder Phillip Coleman, a young minister from Raymond, Mississippi. Coleman served as pastor of the church for 53 years until his death in 2007 and was succeeded by the current pastor, Bishop Robert Fortson. In the nearly 60 years of its existence, the congregation has grown from only five to over 1800 members. The church is located in the hear
t of the West Jackson community, two blocks north of Jackson State University. The members are committed to the vision of “building on a righteous foundation”—glorifying God in worship by proclaiming and exemplifying the life and truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The church is passionately involved in humanitarian missions projects such as providing thousands of meals to the hungry within the community each year and assisting poor individuals and families with clothing and groceries on a weekly basis. Through its global missions efforts, members of the church assisted Haitian earthquake victims with emergency relief and built a school and orphanage for needy children there. The church is also an active partner with the American Red Cross to provide emergency shelter or specialized services for victims of natural disaster, such as the tornadoes in Yazoo City and Tuscaloosa, Alabama as well as the summer flooding of parts of West Jackson in 2011. Greater Bethlehem Temple Church actively serves its membership and the community through over 60 distinct ministries ranging from outreach to college students, tutorial services for school-aged children, prison ministries, counseling and substance abuse ministries, outreach to senior citizens, scholarships, summer camps, blood drives, health screenings and seminars, financial planning courses, children ministries and hospital visitation. Volunteers from the church willingly donate thousands of hours annually to show the love of God to the world.
