A Multicultural Home on Azalea Garden Road
Norfolk Apostolic Church, known locally as NAC, sits along Azalea Garden Road on the east side of Norfolk, Virginia, where the congregation has been rooted since the late 1990s. The building once served as a Moose Lodge; today it anchors a campus that has grown to include a 7,400-square-foot Family Life Center Annex across the street, a Children's Ministry Center next door, and a preschool called the Fisherman's Net Learning Center. The church describes itself as an "exciting, lively, multicultural congregation" drawn from across the United States and other countries, and it intentionally frames its ministry as a reflection of the transient city around it: nearly a third of Norfolk relocates every few years, and NAC has learned to welcome people who are arriving just as readily as those who are leaving.
An Apostolic, Acts 2:38 Faith
NAC is part of the United Pentecostal Church International (UPCI) and partners with the Global and North American Missions divisions as well as the Virginia District. The congregation holds to the distinctive Apostolic Pentecostal message: one true God revealed in Jesus Christ, salvation by grace through faith, and the New Testament pattern set out in Acts chapter 2. According to the church's statement of belief, that pattern includes repentance, water baptism by immersion in the name of Jesus Christ, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the initial sign of speaking in tongues. The teaching likewise emphasizes a daily pursuit of holiness - separation from sin and dedication to God - that touches both the inward life and outward conduct, including modest dress, wholesome speech, and careful stewardship of the body.
Sunday Mornings, Sunday Nights, Wednesday Midweek
Weekly services gather three times on the main campus. Sunday morning worship begins at 10 a.m. in the sanctuary, with a nursery for babies two and under and a Children's Church in the Fellowship Hall for ages two through eleven. A Sunday evening Family Worship service follows at 6 p.m., giving the congregation an unhurried second gathering for the whole household. Wednesday night at 7 p.m. brings the Pastor's Bible Study in the sanctuary, along with nursery care, a youth class in the Fellowship Hall, Children's Church in the Family Life Center, the Foundations Class for new believers meeting in the office, and additional breakout classes that change with the calendar.
Prayer shapes the rhythm of the week as much as preaching does. Teams gather at 8 a.m. before Sunday morning service, again at 5:30 p.m. before the evening service, and on Friday nights at 7 p.m. for the GAP Impacts Prayer time. A ladies' prayer group meets at 5:30 p.m. on announced evenings.
From Minden to Norfolk: Four Buildings and Steady Growth
The work began in late 1983 as a home missions effort of the United Pentecostal Church, planted by Reverend George McAdams, a retired Navy man from Minden, Louisiana, who felt called to return to the city where he had once served. McAdams pastored the small group for about three and a half years, leading them to purchase their first building, a 2,200-square-foot community center at 1575 Kerrey Avenue in the Fox Hall neighborhood. When McAdams returned south in 1987, Michael G. Blankenship and his wife Lori stepped off the evangelistic field and held their first Bible study on Wednesday night, September 15, 1987. About twelve adults and thirty in Sunday School met them.
From there the church moved four times as it grew. A second location opened in 1992 in an old laundromat building on Bay Street in East Ocean View. A third site on Lucas Avenue in the Glenrock section followed in 1994 after the congregation renovated a 5,400-square-foot facility. Thanksgiving week of 1997 brought the move to the present Azalea Garden Road campus, where the old Moose Lodge was purchased, renovated, and dedicated in January 1998. It was then that the work took on its present identity, dropping the longer denominational name and becoming simply Norfolk Apostolic Church. Today the church counts 350 to 400 in weekly attendance, plus an extended family of alumni scattered around the world.
A Campus That Keeps Growing
Growth continued in the new location. In 2005 the church purchased the old girls' club across the street at 3172 Azalea Garden Road and converted it into the Family Life Center Annex, complete with a junior high gym and youth center. Then in the summer of 2011 the adjoining day care facility at 3166 Azalea Garden Road was acquired and renovated into the Children's Ministry Center. That fall the Fisherman's Net Learning Center opened its doors as a preschool and kindergarten offering before and after care for children ages two and a half through eleven; the center serves many inner-city families and employs a mix of full-time and part-time staff.
Ministries for Every Stage
Around the Sunday services, NAC runs a wide network of small groups. Sandy Austin, Lori Blankenship, and Patsy Bembry coordinate the Ladies Ministry, with events and fellowships throughout the year. Pastor Mark Bembry leads the Men's Ministry, building in retreats, cookouts, and fellowship around spiritual and physical growth. Student Pastors KJ and Sandra Townes oversee the Youth Ministry for ages twelve through eighteen, giving students a place to make Christ-minded friends. Carla Wilson, Cady Kitchen, and Amy Clay head the Children's Ministry, running interactive Bible classes for ages two through eleven during both the Sunday morning and Wednesday night services.
The Silver Eagles Ministry, led by Elder Anthony and Holly Caprio, gathers seniors fifty-five and older for prayer breakfasts and an annual trip. GAP - God's Anointed People - is the singles group for those thirty and up, led by Joseph Austin; it includes the Friday night prayer time. Julius and Heather Hines lead the College and Career Ministry for young adults stepping out of high school into their twenties, while the Clays and Austins host a monthly Young Marrieds gathering focused on building marriages rooted in Scripture. Ron Curtis directs the Outreach Ministry, organizing community events and Drive Through Prayer gatherings around the city. Phavon and Megan Sage teach the Foundations Class on Wednesdays for new believers, and John Serrano's Life in Focus Ministry oversees breakout classes on parenting, family finances, anger management, jail ministry, and grief support.
Reaching Across Language and Hearing
Two ministries exist specifically to make the worship gathering accessible. Dawn Espaillat leads the Deaf Ministry, which provides a team of sign language interpreters for those who are deaf or hard of hearing, with designated seating available. Visitors can stop by Guest Services and a volunteer will guide them to those seats. Roberta Orvis coordinates the Spanish Ministry; upon request, services can be interpreted into Spanish through translation headsets available from the sound team.
Support for the Wider Community
The Family Life Center Annex at 3172 Azalea Garden Road hosts three support groups on Tuesday evenings, coordinated by John Serrano. Alcoholics Anonymous meets at 6:30 p.m., Narcotics Anonymous at 7:30 p.m., and a Karen Grief Support Meeting for those dealing with grief or loss also meets at 7:30 p.m. The church also takes prayer requests through an online form and promotes them through its prayer teams.
Going Out: Cambodia, Iceland, and Ninety Missionaries
NAC takes seriously both local and worldwide outreach. As of the end of 2024, the assembly had given more than 3.2 million dollars to mission projects and supports over ninety missionaries on a monthly partnership basis through financial giving and prayer. Two efforts stand out. Since 2013 the church has sent small groups to Cambodia to support Reverend Albert Andreoli, who serves as a missionary there. Together they have built a facility on two acres of property in the central city of Kampong Thom, planted a daughter church, supported local orphanages with rice and school clothing, and witnessed more than 1,100 water baptisms and 800 Holy Ghost baptisms. In Iceland, Cindy Smith has partnered with the UPCI Nordic Missions Team as an approved Associate in Missions. After discovering that the country of 375,000 had no real Apostolic presence, she began prayer walks through Reykjavik and other cities, hosted Bible studies, and in 2024 saw what is believed to be the first modern-day Apostolic convert in the nation baptized in the name of Jesus and filled with the Holy Ghost in the water.
Members of the local congregation also take occasional short-term mission trips and ongoing outreach trips to the Middle East and Iceland. The church publishes a line of Bible study booklets through its online store to support these efforts, including "The Hope of Glory," "The Experience Pentecost Bible Study," and "Have You Been Misled into Believing a Lie?" written by Reverend Andreoli. The Experience Pentecost study has been translated into more than a dozen languages and used on mission fields around the world.
Hampton Apostolic Church
In 2018 Norfolk Apostolic commissioned Devin and Elissa Jarvis to begin Bible studies in nearby Hampton. After home meetings and community outreach, Hampton Apostolic Church purchased a building in 2020 and began weekly services under the spiritual covering of Bishop Blankenship and a team of young adults from NAC. The church is recognized as a branch work of Norfolk Apostolic and shares in its story of watching lives transformed one by one.
Stay Connected
Worship services are livestreamed on Christian World Media and through the church's Facebook and app channels, with archived messages on the Norfolk Apostolic Church YouTube channel. Real-time updates and announcements come through the free church center app for iOS and Android, and giving is handled through the online giving page. Whether someone has lived in Hampton Roads for decades or is passing through for a season, the welcome at 3131 Azalea Garden Road is built on the same conviction that has shaped the church since 1983: that God still changes lives here, and that there are more of them to reach.