West Philadelphia: More than Praise, Worship and Service

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Churchgoers are getting more out of church. Members of the Christian Stronghold Church do not only attend services for the sermons, but for the continuous motivation to develop their personal relationship with God through service, employment or education.

The church encourages its members to participate in serve activities as a way to honor God and develop spiritual friendships. Traditionally, a church member’s function is to offer his or her skills to a particular ministry. However, deciding the right area of service might be challenging. Passion for the activity, devoted time commitment and faithfulness to the ministry are variables in successful ministry service. Many church members do not look at serving as strenuous work, but they see it as reverence to God.

Amanda Davis sings soprano on the Christian Sounds Choir—one of six musical ministries. Many people may see singing in the choir as more than a monotonous Sunday morning routine.

“It’s important for me to serve in ministry because it’s an opportunity for me to give back to God the gifts that He has given me. At the same time, it blesses other people,” Davis said.

There are over 50 active ministries in CSC. African American Cultural Awareness, Audio Visual, Bookstore Workers, Children’s Church, Community Action Council, Evangelism Ministry, Job and Career Management, Men’s Discipleship, Photography Ministry, Singles Ministry and the Youth Ministry are many of the operating ministries in the church.

Another opportunity for church members is to receive employment from the church. There are numerous administrative positions that keep CSC well organized. Tenora Rogers, information processor and graphic artist, designs all fliers and banners for various ministry events and creates the weekly Sunday church bulletins—generally six to 10 pages in length. As a recent Temple University alumna, Rogers uses her advertisement degree for the service in the church.

Rogers has been a member for 10 years. Over that time, she has been involved with the Singles Ministry and served as a youth worker for the Youth Ministry. She smiles at the many years of service and enjoys her new position.

“I am able to use my natural gift of art for God’s people,” Rogers said.

When pastors are not preaching, hymns are still being sung and the Bible remains open Monday through Friday for spiritual growth and academic progress. CSC serves as a Christian school. Both Creative World Learning Center—teaching children six months to five years old and Destiny Learning Academy—teaching kindergarten to sixth grade—provide Christian education. The schools are apart of the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI).

Established in 1992, both schools’ vision focuses on the “shared responsibility for [a] child’s growth and development.” According to school records, students who graduate from these programs are generally two grades above national levels and are in the top 10 percent in area charter middle schools.

Executive Director Reginald Dunston has managed the schools for the past three years. His experience with the schools are rewarding because the outreach to the African-American community has been a success.

“My favorite part is the impact we have on young people’s lives spiritually and academically,” Dunston said.

The vision to increase membership yearly, create new church ministries and advance the Christian schools’ academic standards was given to the Rev. Willie Richardson, the senior pastor at CSC. In 1966, Richardson received the call to become a pastor.

Forty-four years ago, Christian Stronghold Church’s (CSC) membership started with six people. Now, there are over 4,000 active members. More than half of the members are women, while man accounted for one-third. Children made up the remainder.