Our History
Our
History
Realizing the need for another church in the Liberian community, a group of bibles believing Liberians got together to form a new church. After a week of praying and fasting, on August 16th, 1989, Pastor James Saydee, Rev. Albert Nebo, Sister Rebecca Luke, Sis. Cecelia Johnson, Bro, Sampson Sarclay, Bro. Elroy Moore, and Bro. Eunine Smallwood, met at the home of Sis. Rebecca Luke. At that meeting, they prayed for the Lord to give them the right direction in establishing a new church.
October 1, 1989, their prayer was answered, and the first worship service of the United Christian fellowship Church was held at the Riverside people’s center in Minneapolis. With one accord, a special election was held immediately after the worship service. The following brothers and sisters were elected: Bro. James Saydee- Pastor, Rev. Albert Nebo- Assistant pastor, Bro Thomas Friday-Deacon, Sit. Joanne Toweh-Secretary and Bro Nat Early- Treasurer.
Due to our growth, the Riverside people’s Center was no longer accommodating for worshiping. On April 8, 1990, we relocated to a storefront on Nicollet Avenue in south Minneapolis. Because of our continuous growth we were forced to relocate a larger edifice through the generous help of Pastor John Demey of the Fourth Baptist Church where we began our new worship services on March 3, 1991.
In 1994, Pastor Saydee resigned, and the church named Pastor Charles Goah as acting pastor and later made him a part time pastor during the church transition to the sabathani community center where Pastor Goah later took a sabbatical leave and pastor Natt Friday took leadership until his resignation.
Upon Pastor Friday’s Resignation, the church gathered and re-elected Pastor Charles Goah to assume the role of a senior part time pastor. In 2000, under Pastor Goah leadership the church was able to secure its own worship center on 4300 Queen Ave North Minneapolis (Current Address). Since our relocation, the church has been continuously growing.
Over the past four (4) years the church has undergone major challenges including Covid-19, Legal litigations, Frozen Assets and in 2018 we lost our senior Pastor Rev. Doctor Charles Goah which led to suspending church activities and halting programs. Notwithstanding, we overcome those challenges by staying rooted in faith, prayers, and dedication in maintaining the church. The resulting consequence led to forfeiture of the church. Gracefully, the Board acted swiftly and began the legal process to repossess the property.
During the peak of the CODID-19 Pandemic, the Board instituted a series of measures to reduce and prevent the spread of the virus: We reduced the hours of worship, halted all weekly fellowship activities Finally, closed the doors of the church and moved Sunday’s worship services to an online service.
Proceeding after the loss of our Senior Pastor Rev. Charles Goah, the Board appointed pastor Isaac Okai as acting pastor to spearhead the spiritual leadership of the church. Under and during the given circumstances and challenges, Pastor Isaac Okai submitted a letter of resignation to the board of Directors after a year of pastoring.
During the first quarter of 2022, the Church underwent major flood sustaining major loss and damages. On August 16, 2022, the Board of Directors met and approved funding to undertake renovations and remodel of the building. Given all the obstacles and challenges the church underwent, the leadership suggested to reopen the church under a theme “A New Day “on April 16, 2023.