History of The Living Gospel - West Monroe

After much prayer and careful consideration, Pastor J.V. Hollins decided to move his family from Los Angeles, California, to his hometown of Rayville, Louisiana.  Although he received his call to the ministry there in Los Angeles, he knew it was time for him to return to his roots to begin a work for the Lord in Rayville.  Following God’s leading, on January 19, 1982, Pastor Hollins, along with his beautiful wife and four daughters, took their leave from The Living Gospel Outreach, where the Lord had saved and filled him with the gift of the Holy Ghost under the pastorate of Elder D.L. Jones.

Returning to Rayville, Pastor Hollins and his family fellowshipped with local churches, but eventually God led him to start a Bible study in his home. Time and experience, however, brought them to a crossroad of decision. Coupled with the advice of the late Bishop P.H. Jefferson, founder of The Living Gospel Churches, and the newly appointed Bishop, Bishop D.L. Jones, it was decided that the timing was perfect for branching out. Shortly thereafter, God opened up a door when Mother and Daddy Plain, noted teachers in the community, purchased a church building located at 706 Ray Street in Rayville.  They called the building Christian Learning Center, where tutoring for students in the community was held.  The Plains were willing to rent the building to Pastor Hollins for his church services at a very reasonable fee.  Mother Plain requested that Pastor Hollins conduct a Monday night Bible study for the community. He agreed, and the first official service was held on August 26, 1986. Services were held on Sunday afternoon, and it was there that the Hollins family, along with Bro. Morgan Moss, began to worship God.  Mother Plain always attended the services, and others from the community would visit.  

The Monday night community Bible study continued to grow, but church growth was slow.  But in September 1987, that all changed when Sis. Ernestine Davison, a client of Hollins Financial Services, heard about the Bible study and invited her neighbors from the Holly Ridge Community Church to come to hear Pastor Hollins teach.  During that time, God had laid on Bishop Jones’s heart to assist Pastor Hollins during his busy tax session. (Bishop Jones had relocated from Los Angeles to Houma, Louisiana, so he was in a position to help Pastor Hollins with the new work in Rayville.)  Periodically, Bishop would drive from Houma up to Rayville to teach on Monday nights. After teaching the Bible study on one Monday night, Sis. Davison asked Bishop if he could stay one more night and teach. That one-night Monday Bible study dramatically turned into a 3-day revival.  During this revival, Sis. Willie Mae Staten received the gift of the Holy Ghost, and many others, including Sis. Davison, were so blessed that their lives have never been the same. Once the church was established, Bishop Jefferson sent Bro. Isiah Walker and Bro. Larry Mallory, from the Los Angeles assembly, to come and encourage the new church, along with Bro. Elton Fletcher from the Houma assembly. This would be the first of a yearly Fellowship meeting in Monroe, where Saints from the Houma assembly as well as from Los Angeles would come to fellowship with the new church in Rayville.

God was blessing the Rayville assembly. It began to flourish, both spiritually as well as numerically, and a larger building was needed.  Sis. Carolyn Benjamin, also a client of Hollins Financial Services, requested that Pastor Hollins conduct a Bible class on Tuesday nights at Supreme Home Health. The church next door to Supreme Home Health, located at 1100 Jackson Street, went up for sale. Sis. Benjamin immediately notified Pastor Hollins, and they placed a bid on the church.  The purchase went smoothly, and the church moved its home from Rayville to Monroe in 1990, where they worshipped for fourteen years. As the church continued to grow, they found themselves needing a larger sanctuary.

In the spring of 2004, a group of brothers informed Pastor Hollins that an extremely large church located in West Monroe at 700 Montgomery Avenue was for sale. Through faith and much prayer, the church was purchased, and their first service was held in February 2005.

In January 2015, Pastor Hollins heard the call from God to return to Rayville, “to do his first works over again.”  Consequently, Bishop D.L. Jones took up the pastorship of the West Monroe assembly the following month.  Initially, Bishop Jones undertook a massive project to reconstruct and renovate several areas in the building. However, his ultimate goal is to reconstruct the lives of God’s people that they may become fit for the Master’s use in building of God’s kingdom here on Earth. In July 2015, Bishop Jones became the Senior Pastor of the church and installed Elder Otis Holland as pastor.