By Keith Sanders, Special to The New Tri-State Defender
Love Fellowship Ministries, Inc. at 4475 South Germantown Rd. will soon be celebrating its 10th anniversary.
On Friday, June 24th there will be an anniversary gala at the Esplanade at 901 Cordova Station Ave. in Cordova. The milestone will be marked with two worship services on Sunday June 26th at 8 a.m. and 11 a.m.
At 5 p.m., the church will hold a special recognition event for its pastor, Bishop Laurence V. Plummer. The New Tri-State Defender spoke with Bishop Plummer about the anniversary celebration and much more.
TSD: When and how did you know you were called into ministry?
Bishop Laurence V. Plummer: The truth of the matter is I never wanted to be a minister … I never wanted to be a pastor … I never wanted to be a bishop. I strictly was a guy that loved God and loved ministry and I was excited just to be one of (the late Bishop G.E. Patterson’s) right hand persons … helping him build Temple of Deliverance … but I had a battle going on where I was kind of running from ministry.
…I never dreamed of being a pastor but when God spoke to me over a period of time he showed me that I have much more ministry that he wanted me to do. … My time with Bishop (Patterson) was a setup really because God wanted me to be there to spend my time with him … even though I was not spending time with him to become a pastor … It was a setup where God had me in that position where he groomed me for ministry. So it was hard for me to accept the calling because I didn’t want to do it … but it was easy for me to do because Bishop positioned me for ministry, so I knew what to do.
TSD: Describe how you started the church and the challenges you had starting it?
Bishop Plummer: I started this church with absolutely no members and I think that the first day that we opened the church it was jammed pack with a lot of friends, foes and whoever wanted to come to see the opening. …I think 69 people joined that first week of ministry. …We launched the ministry on not just faith … I took my own personal money and partnered with SunTrust Bank. …They were incredibly kind to me being that I had never pastored … had no members. It was just me and my family and we started from scratch.
TSD: Was it difficult for you when you were known so well for your expertise as a financial professional to also add the title bishop?
Bishop Plummer: …(The) hard part was the pastor piece. I became a pastor in 2006. I just took over my dad’s fellowship four years ago as the presiding bishop of his fellowship that he has had since 1968. So that bishop piece was the second chapter of my pastoral career. …My dad retired from the fellowship and he felt I should be elevated to that position because of the potential he saw in me and I guess because of the talents that God has given me for building. And what I learned in the financial planning business I’m able to really incorporate that into the business side of the church too.
TSD: Describe the approach to ministering and ministry at Love Fellowship Ministries? What are your most impactful ministries?
Bishop Plummer: First of all it’s been a tremendous challenge … not so much teaching the word and preaching the gospel … the biggest challenge is dealing with people and people’s lives. So I’ve been challenged because I’m a pastor that also has a financial advising firm. We’ve got 6,800 clients in 48 states and then I’m pastoring a church. …It’s gotten so busy and requires so much of my time. I actually relocated a bishop from Connecticut (Bishop Aaron Sneed) and I brought him on back in February of 2015 as my executive pastor in the ministry. He is there full time Monday through Friday from 8 to 5 doing what I would be doing on a daily basis in ministries. …I never want my members to pay for not having a full time pastor.
My wife is the coordinator of the children’s church. … (The children) go home and tell their parents how much they love it and the next thing you know their parents are coming to (our) church … all because the children are enjoying the ministry. I can honestly say it’s one the best things that I’ve done in ministry. And now we’re really getting involved in our outreach ministry … reaching out to shelters and different people that are confined to homes. In the next three to five years I’m going to spend quite a bit (of time) touching people that are not as fortunate as we are.
TSD: What has been the key to the growth and development of the church?
Bishop Plummer: I have really been blessed to master how to build relationships. I’m a people-type guy. I love the people and I do what I have to do to make sure I’m a good pastor and I make sure they understand that they’re valuable to us. So we have actually been growing the church based on relationships and also the implementation of ministries within the ministry that I’m still working on. I don’t want to make it sound like we have a well-oiled machine in every department, but I think the thing that people love is that it’s a family atmosphere. It’s an incredibly anointed sanctuary where our worship and our praise are very timely and every worship is very much spirited.
TSD: What can we expect in the next 10 years from you and the Love Fellowship?
Bishop Plummer: I believe we’re one of the best-kept secrets in this city. I think what’s gonna happen over the next 5 to 10 years is that our church is really going to explode to a level of what I’ve really dreamed from the beginning. But I believe that God has not allowed me yet to just blow up and be major in this city – as far as people hearing more about Love Fellowship – because he had to get us ready to be able to handle (the) increase that is coming. I’ve always tried to have a steady growth. …I want it to be steady and I want it to be a healthy growth so as the numbers come we are ready to handle it.
Timing is everything. I never wanted God to give me anything I couldn’t handle. I believe when the time comes and he is ready for us take the next step in ministry that we would be able to handle it.
