From God's Garage to Agape Pointe
Agape Family Worship Center began on Sunday, May 27, 1990, in the garage of Pastor Larry Powell's parents on Leesville Avenue in Rahway. Eleven people gathered for that first service - Larry and Vanessa Powell, Gilbert and Christine Grant, Kimberly Abram, Annette Gillette, Rebecca Powell, and three children. The garage itself took on the name G.G.'s (God's Garage), and from the start it was clear that something unusual was stirring in this small meeting in northern New Jersey.
By March 1991 the gathering had outgrown the garage. Sunday services moved to the Sheraton Hotel in Iselin while Wednesday Bible study continued at G.G.'s. The next milestone came in June 1993, when the church moved into a former elementary school on East Hazelwood Avenue in Rahway - a step that gave the growing congregation much-needed space. In November 1996 and then again in 1997, the church acquired roughly 6.5 acres at the intersection of Leesville Avenue (where it had all begun) and East Hazelwood Avenue. By the summer of 1998, offices had been moved into a renovated house on the new property.
The boldest step came with the Arise and Build capital campaign in early 2000. On Commitment Weekend that February, the church raised more than $150,000 in a single week and pledged an additional $1.7 million above regular giving over three years. On Palm Sunday, April 16, 2000, Pastor Powell, Vanessa, the elders, and members of the community - including Rahway Mayor James Kennedy and Councilman David Brown - marched from the old school to break ground at the future site of Agape Pointe. The doors of the new facility opened on Sunday, November 4, 2001.
Agape Pointe houses the worship center, children's and youth ministry facilities, a nursery, administrative offices, a bookstore, classrooms, the Impact 21 Community Development Corporation, the Pneuma Life School of Ministry, and a state-of-the-art audio and video recording studio. The congregation paid off the $3.75 million mortgage on July 29, 2009, in the middle of a deep national recession. Membership has grown to nearly 5,000, and the church continues to expand its broadcast ministry to reach people across the tri-state region and around the world. Thirty-plus years on, the journey continues: proclaiming and demonstrating the love of God to Rahway and beyond.
What Agape Believes
Agape Family Worship Center teaches a classical evangelical and charismatic faith. The congregation believes in one God, eternally existent in three co-equal Persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - and confesses that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. The Holy Bible is received as the inspired, infallible, and authoritative Word of God. All people are seen as having fallen short of the glory of God, with salvation made available to all through Jesus Christ.
The church practices water baptism by immersion and observes the Lord's Supper. Members are encouraged to be filled with the Holy Spirit according to Acts 2:4, and the church teaches that healing is provided through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ as a privilege for all believers. The church confesses the bodily resurrection of the just and unjust and looks for the imminent, personal, and visible return of Jesus Christ.
Around these central truths sit ten core values that shape daily life at Agape: Jesus is at the center; real love never fails; the Word of God is true, alive, and powerful; pure worship is life-changing; prayer works; all things are possible to those who believe; excellence honors God and inspires people; people really matter; you can't beat God giving; and life is to be enjoyed. The current church theme, drawn from Psalm 145, is Awesome - a yearlong call to be a WOW church whose worship, service, and order reveal the glory of God.
Sunday Mornings and Wednesday Revival Fire
Two weekly services anchor the life of the church. On Sunday mornings at 9 AM, the congregation gathers at Agape Pointe for the main worship service, with dynamic praise and a sermon by Pastor Powell. The service is livestreamed, and the recording remains available afterward. On Wednesday evenings at 7:30 PM, the church hosts Revival Fire, an online-only service that allows members and friends near and far to participate in midweek worship and teaching.
Children ages 5 through 10 have their own church each Sunday at 9 AM. Agape Kids Church meets in person at the same time as the main service, so families can worship together under one roof before splitting off into age-appropriate teaching. Teens attend Agape Youth Culture, also at 9 AM on Sundays, with its own dedicated program. Visitors are warmly welcomed, and first-time guests are invited to fill out a welcome card so that someone from the church can follow up personally.
For those who cannot attend in person, services stream live on the church website, on Facebook, and on YouTube. Sermon recordings and other media remain available through the Agape Live platform and the church's YouTube channel for catch-up viewing.
Pneuma Life School of Ministry
Housed inside Agape Pointe is the Pneuma Life School of Ministry, an affiliate of the church and a partner with Oral Roberts University's School of Lifelong Learning Education. Pneuma Life offers evening classes on Tuesday and Thursday from 6:50 PM to 9:50 PM that lead to a 33-credit Diploma of Theological Studies. Shorter specialized certificates are also offered, with 19 credits in areas such as Christian Workers, Christian Education, Biblical Studies, Christian Missions, General Theological Studies, and Christian Care-Giving.
The academic dean is Dr. Odessa McNeill, who has served on the church's staff since 2002 as a staff elder and director of Christian education. Pastor Powell serves as president of the school. Course offerings include End Time Events (Biblical Eschatology), Signs and Wonders I, Teaching the Bible, and Faith and Human Development, along with a required ministry practicum for advanced certificates. New students attend a Student Orientation before classes begin.
Alongside the degree program, the church runs the Agape dFree Information Series, a free virtual class held on Tuesday evenings that covers wills and trusts, mortgages, generational wealth through insurance, and getting one's financial house in order. Sessions are led by professionals in financial planning, estate law, and mortgage lending. The dFree Pledge invites participants to apply dfree principles - keeping expenses below income, paying bills on time, investing in assets that grow, contributing to the community, and establishing estates.
Children, Youth, and Young Adults
Agape Kids Church is for children ages 5 to 10 and meets every Sunday at 9 AM in person. The ministry runs its own social media presence through Instagram and Facebook, and the kids program also organizes Vacation Bible School each summer, with Bible adventures and lessons, games, music, crafts, high-energy worship, friendly leaders, and themed daily activities for children roughly ages 4 to 10.
Agape Youth Culture is the church's ministry to teenagers. Its vision is to provide an environment that meets the real needs of today's youth and young adults through Biblical teaching on issues like peer pressure, sex, drugs, alcohol, education, and life skills. The aim is to help young people understand their identity in Christ and apply Scripture to daily life through teaching, training, and fellowship. The mission is succinct: Making young people Disciples of Christ. Teen Church gathers at 9 AM on Sundays alongside the rest of the church.
Mighty Men of Valor and the Women of Agape
The Men's Ministry at Agape, known as the Mighty Men of Valor, gathers on the third Friday of each month at 7:30 PM. The fellowship exists to encourage, build up, and strengthen men in their personal relationship with Jesus Christ and to give them a meaningful way to serve. Past gatherings have included Man Talk - Financial Fitness evenings with guest speakers who walk through practical money topics from a faith perspective.
The Women's Ministry, also called Women's Fellowship, develops women of virtue, dignity, purpose, prayer, and excellence. The ministry hosts monthly events designed to minister to the total woman, alongside teaching, hands-on training, personal mentoring, and loving fellowship. Recruitment is ongoing, and registration is required for most events. Recent offerings have included Ribology, a three-part women's Bible study based on the work of Charlotte Gamble, and themed weekends such as the Women's Weekend with a Soul Cafe and guest speakers. The ministry is intentionally diverse, drawing women of different races, cultures, and ethnicities.
A'Zamar: A United Body of Praise
The music and worship ministry at Agape is called A'Zamar, which means Agape Praise. Members see themselves as a united body striving for excellence and committed to serve with their all. The ministry is led by Executive Music Director Loren Dawson, who oversees worship direction, vocal direction, programming, the band, the choir, the praise team, audio, special services, guest artists, and the music for funerals and weddings. John McClure Jr., who has served on staff since 2015, leads worship as the Worship Director and Praise and Worship leader.
The music department supports weekly worship, the Wednesday online Revival Fire service, weddings, funerals, and special events such as conferences, concerts, and revivals hosted at Agape Pointe. Recordings and broadcasts from these services have carried the church's worship and teaching far beyond Rahway, with the audio and video recording studio embedded in the facility.
Reaching Out: Food, Backpacks, and National Unity Weekend
Outreach is woven into the identity of Agape. The church runs a monthly food distribution in partnership with Master's Commission, with Spanish-speaking volunteers especially welcomed. Distributions typically take place on the third Saturday of the month from 10 AM to 12 PM (a slightly earlier 9:30 to 11:30 slot in December), rain or shine, at the church. The drive-through line is on Leesville Avenue and the walk-up entry is on East Hazelwood Avenue; a limit of three families per vehicle applies, and recipients are asked to bring reusable bags or carts and clear their trunk in advance.
Each August the church hosts a Back to School Backpack Distribution, giving away free backpacks and school supplies to students who are present. Donations of supplies and money are collected in the weeks before the event, and volunteers pack and distribute the supplies on distribution day. The August Community Day adds bouncy houses, games, free food, giveaways, prayer, and Bibles to the school-supply giveaway.
National Unity Weekend, hosted with Bishop Grier and Grace Church of Virginia, brings together many cultures, churches, organizations, businesses, and community leaders. Saturday is a Community Action Day with free groceries, a free community market (clothing, household items, baby gear, electronics, and more), live entertainment, family activities, and a Kids Fun Zone. Sunday is a citywide worship celebration focused on prayer, unity, and encouragement across the wider community. Volunteers, donors, and partners all play a role in making the weekend possible.
Alongside these recurring efforts, the HigherEd Ministry offers multiple competitive scholarships each year to help members pursue post-secondary education, and the church maintains a Food Collection Drive that replenishes the pantry with non-perishables and monetary gifts. The Rapha Ministry runs a GriefShare program, including a Surviving the Holidays seminar for those navigating loss during the holiday season.
Prayer, Fasting, and Giving
Prayer is taken seriously at Agape. A prayer phone line meets Tuesday through Friday at 6:30 AM (dial-in number 605-313-5157, code 119714; long-distance charges may apply), and prayer requests submitted through the website are prayed over by the staff and prayer team. The church also encourages fasting as a spiritual discipline, providing guidance on types of fasts (full, Daniel-style, partial), preparing spiritually, choosing a duration, and ending the fast safely.
Giving is handled through PushPay, which allows members to tithe online or by mobile device using ACH, debit, or credit. ACH transactions cost $0.49 per transaction and credit card gifts are processed at 2.5%, with the church preferring ACH to streamline operations. Givers can also text afwc to 77977 to set up a contribution. The church encourages giving by revelation rather than reason and emphasizes cheerful, faithful generosity as part of discipleship.
For First-Time Visitors
Agape Family Worship Center is located at 501 East Hazelwood Avenue in Rahway, New Jersey, with a mailing address of P.O. Box 1623, Rahway, NJ 07065. The main phone line is 732-680-9800 and the general email is available through the contact page. Sunday worship begins at 9 AM, and families are encouraged to arrive a little early to find parking and check in children. Children's Church (ages 5 to 10) and Youth Culture meet at the same 9 AM hour. Wednesday's Revival Fire is an online-only service at 7:30 PM, and Sunday services are livestreamed on the church website, Facebook, and YouTube channels.
First-time guests are asked to fill out a welcome card after service so the church can follow up. Those exploring faith can request baptism, baby dedication, salvation follow-up, or membership through the website. Members are also invited to serve in any of the ministries - Children's, Youth, Men's, Women's, A'Zamar, or the broader outreach team - or to volunteer at the monthly food distributions and special events. The Pneuma Life School of Ministry is open to anyone wanting deeper theological training, and the Agape dFree financial series is free and open to the community. Whether you have been in church for decades or are walking through the door for the first time, there is a place at Agape.