Welcome to Greater Faith Missionary Baptist Church

Church History

       In the year of our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Fifty-six, the second Sunday in July, Greater Ebenezer Baptist Church was founded. This church was established to meet the spiritual needs of people who desired to serve God in peace, unity and harmony. Rev. William Wright was named pastor. Our membership grew steadily.

      June 26, 1960, the church Reverend Hugh Dent to be our pastor. He accepted the call and on the First Sunday in July, he took the pulpit as pastor. Under the leadership of Pastor Dent, Greater Ebenezer changed its name to Greater Faith Missionary Baptist Church.

      Under the prayerful and most efficient leadership, the membership grew extensively and the worship services became more spiritual. Pastor Dent served faithfully for six years and went home to be with the Lord in December of 1966.

      In April, 1967, Rev. E. L. Dillard was called to lead the Greater Faith Missionary Baptist Church. Under his pastorate, Greater Faith moved from worshipping in the Baptist Building to 4200 W. Kossuth Avenue. The building had been purchased and designed for worship during the life of pastor Dent. Reverend Dillard served as pastor for twelve years. He preached his last sermon as pastor on the first Sunday in May, 1977.

      After much prayer, Minister Arthur L. Kelley was called to pastor Greater Faith Missionary Baptist Church on the First Sunday in November, 1977. Under his leadership, the Lord blessed our church to grow spiritually, financially and in membership. Within two years we paid off all mortgages on the 4200 Kossuth building. We renovated the building and outgrew its seating capacity.

      In 1984, we moved to our present location at 4114 W. Natural Bridge Avenue. Since we have worshipped at this location, the Lord has continued to bless miraculously. People have been healed, delivered and made free from terminal illness, diseases, attacks from Satan and have been healed financially.

      As our membership grew, the need for ministries was apparent. Currently, our church is blessed with over thirty ministries to meet membership needs and to mature the saints. During 1997 we added an additional radio broadcast: The Greater Faith Hour each Wednesday evening at 7:00 p.m. on KSTl Radio--690 on your dial--a time when we go from greater faith to higher dimensions in the Lord Jesus: other additions to our ministries include the Greater Faith Liturgical Praise Dancers: the Drill Team, the Praise and Worship Ministry Team, a dynamic Male Chorus, the Hospitality Ministry, Greater Faith Outreach Ministries which include a Welfare to Work Program, a Human Relations Ministry dedicated to helping saints to obtain employment, New Cornerstone Mentoring Initiative (Mentoring for Teenagers), and P.A.T.H. (Purposing Always To Help a ministry of Helps with emphasis on education The Ministerial Alliance, the School of Ministry (an Extension of the United Theological Seminary, Monroe, LA) and the Greater=eater Faith Day Care are also blessed additions to our ministries. The following annual conferences have been initiated: Builders of the Kingdom Conference as well as the Men's Retreats. The Prison Ministry has been extended to three Sundays each month as well as teaching during each week. This year, we successfully completed the first year of our GED Education Program. Just recently, the Lord blessed through a week-end of evangelism outreach to the St. Louis Community. The Mission Ministry continues to significantly increase the giving of clothes and food to the needy.

       On November 2, 1997, the Greater Faith Church was blessed as Pastor Author L. Kelley was consecrated as Bishop by the Interdenominational Interdependent College of Bishops with Bishop John E. Harker, the chief celebrant.

      Under the anointed leadership of Bishop Authur Kelley. the Lord has been blessing with NEW MEMBERS, NEW MINISTRIES, and numerous PREACHNG MINISTERS. God has also blessed materialistically. Through the help of God, we have purchased five buildings to meet the educational and physical needs of his people. We are currently involved in an ambitious building fund program in order to erect a new church sanctuary and educational building complex-debt free. Thanks be to God that we are currently a debt free congregation!

      The Lord is still doing a NEW THING within GREATER FAITH. We are currently growing up to go up. Through prayer and living out the WORD, God is taking us to a new spiritual level. We know that we are more than conquerors. THANKS BE TO GOD WHO GIVETH US THE VICTORY!!!