WS Chronicle

The Shekinah Glory Christian Church held their grand opening on Aug. 23. The new church is located at 5095 Lansing Dr., which is the former location of The Greater Church. Shekinah Glory is eager to introduce themselves to the community through spirited fellowship and community initiatives.

Prior to coming to Winston-Salem, the main church was located in Durham. Apostle Mark Spell is the senior pastor of Shekinah Glory and says it will serve as the new headquarters church.

“We are looking to grow by way of not just individuals joining the church, but by way of churches joining the ministry,” said Spell. “What we are about is connecting people to God and community and encouraging spiritual growth and to serve with the heart of the evangelists.

“This is a people’s ministry, that’s what we are about. One of our main focuses at this point is totally around understanding the need of the community as perceived by the community itself. One of the mistakes oftentimes made by ministries is we assume what’s needed and we step into a space offering the very obvious without actually having conversation with the community at large to get an understanding of what part they perceive the church should play in the community.”

Spell, a Wilson, N.C. native, said they chose Winston-Salem as the site of their new church because it “mirrors” a lot of what Wilson looks like.

“It looks a lot like Wilson in terms of where I come from,” he said. “As I began to explore and look around the area for a new facility, I also saw an opportunity for our church to be a positive in the area.”

One of the first things Spell wanted to do once he arrived in town was to connect with local community leaders so they have an opportunity to utilize the vast number of amenities the church has to offer outside of the sanctuary, such as the on-site recreation center.

“We want our ministry to be exemplified in what we do,” Spell said. “We recognize what we have been given is an opportunity to share and help people with the same token.”

COVID-19 was alive and present throughout the searching process for Shekinah Glory. Spell stated he has a laundry list of things he would like to do, but understands he has to abide by the city’s guidelines and restrictions. He said he will have to tailor his plans around the pandemic.

The church held their first service during the grand opening and Spell said it exceeded his expectations, considering we are in the middle of a pandemic. Over 200 people came out for that first service and the church was able to maintain social distance guidelines as well.

“It was very successful in terms of introducing ourselves from a more aesthetic standpoint,” Spell said about the first service. “I don’t think it’s not hard to do, but I am anxious to have an opportunity to dig in the community and people seeing what we do on a consistent basis.”

Helping the youth is one of the big ministries Spell wants to get off the ground first. He said it is important to instill hope in the younger generation about the church, because he realizes that some of them have fallen back from the traditional church setting.

“My heart bleeds for people that have not really been introduced to the true love of Christ and for whatever reason feel vulnerable or taken advantage of,” said Spell.  

Spell wants to utilize all of the space the church has to offer to assist as many young people as he can.

“My idea of how you reach out is you have to become astute in terms of what it is people are looking for, what people need and be prepared to provide that,” he said. “For me, the recreational opportunity we have is one of the best points of touching the community we have, because it affords us the opportunity to not be predictable.”

Along with the facilities already on site, Spell sees an opportunity for growth as the property sits on a large plot of land that may include a track or an aquatic center in the future.

“I absolutely want to give this community something to be proud of, whereby you don’t have to get in your car and travel west and wave bye-bye to some arches before you see something that’s worth being proud of,” he continued.

Spell said he feels compelled to reach out and help the community because he remembers his humble beginnings. 

“My level of thankfulness puts me in a position where I am never far removed from how I came up,” he said about his upbringing. “I am never absent from what it took, and the people God strategically placed in my life to help me to at least get to the place where I could escape the confides of Wilson, North Carolina.”

Spell said he is looking for like-minded individuals to connect with to expand his reach. He realized there are people out there that need assistance and needs the community to help him reach those people.