The

American Legion log cabin building in Fayetteville was

the first meeting place of the Fayetteville Church of

God.

Twenty-two

people got together here in March 1968 and that core

group has expanded to just over 200 members.

The current

pastor is the Rev. Roger Powell, who has served the

congregation for six years.

He was born

in Arkansas and reared in Jonesboro, Ga. He first felt

pulled toward serving God in the ministry at the age of

7. He received his master's in theology at the Church of

God Theological Seminary in Tennessee and is just a few

hours away from his doctorate.

He has

served as a pastor to the military in Hawaii, oversaw a

private school in Louisiana and started the Peachtree

City Church of God in 1975. Unfortunately, the church was

misunderstood and got off to a rocky start. The word had

gone out that it was a "snake handling" church

and Powell found himself threatened, along with his tires

being slashed.

"Some

of those doing the threatening," he said,

"discovered they had incorrect information and are

now members of that church."

He came to

the Fayetteville church in September 1993.

He and his

wife, Sharon, met at the Riverdale Church of God, and

have been married since September 1969. They are the

parents of Tina Pettit, Savannah, Tonya Barron, who is a

hospital administrator, lives in Jonesboro and is

expecting a baby, and Tiffany, who is a senior at Fayette

County High School. There are two granddaughters.

Powell is

active in the ministerial association that meets each

Tuesday morning and derives satisfaction from the fact

they do not try to change each other as they realize they

are all working for the kingdom of God. They attend each

other's revivals and often assist in them. "All the

glory for our joint efforts goes to God," he said.

The church

has a worship service each Sunday morning at 10:30 and

Sunday evenings are devoted as follows: first Sunday,

corporate worship in the sanctuary at 6:30 p.m.; second,

third and fourth Sundays are in cell groups at 6:30 p.m.

and fifth Sunday evenings are designated to be a family

night.

There is a

worship service Wednesdays at 7 p.m.

The church

is at 895 S. Ga. Highway 85, just south of the new Kroger

shopping center. It can be reached at 770-461-6235.