Perfecting Church sits on East Nevada Avenue on Detroit's east side, and the people who drive, walk, and ride in for Sunday and Tuesday gatherings are the reason the building exists at all. The congregation was born in 1989 from a prophetic word given to a young singer and preacher named Marvin L. Winans: "They are coming to you." That sentence became the seed of a ministry that has since grown into a multi-site church, a community development corporation, and a fellowship of churches stretching from Detroit to South Africa. The phrase on every sign and banner is short and direct: Ministry Means People.
A Prophetic Beginning in Detroit
Perfecting Church held its first service on May 27, 1989, with eight members gathered in the basement of Pastor Winans' home. The story the church tells about itself goes back further than that, to a night of prayer at Shalom Temple where, under the laying on of hands by Mother Estella Boyd, the Holy Spirit gave the future pastor a vision of a stream of people approaching him and declared, "they are coming to you." Reluctant at first, Winans wrestled with the calling. The more he resisted, he has said, the more the comforting presence of the Lord faded. When he finally surrendered and began to say yes, the Spirit filled him again, and this time the people in the vision came from every background imaginable.
They came in real life, too. The basement outgrew itself almost immediately, and the new congregation moved to the Michigan Inn, then to the Urban Ministries Center, then into the care of Pastor Roosevelt Williams and the Greenfield Avenue Church of God. Within seven months, that space was full, and Reverend Moore and the People's United Methodist Church opened their doors. In September 1989, just four months after the inaugural service, Perfecting Church purchased its own building at 13220 Greenfield. Seven months later, that sanctuary was full as well, and Pastor Winans added a second Sunday service, the 10:45 a.m. gathering that is still the church's main morning worship today. The Sunday services eventually moved to Cody High School so the entire congregation could worship as one body, and in March 1996 the church settled into its present home at 7616 East Nevada in Detroit.
What Perfecting Church Believes
The statement of faith lists sixteen sections and is rooted in a Pentecostal reading of Scripture. Perfecting Church believes the Bible is the inerrant, authoritative Word of God, and confesses one God in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The church teaches the deity and lordship of Jesus Christ, the fall of man, redemption through the cross, and salvation by confessed faith. Two ordinances stand at the center: water baptism by immersion, described as the outward sign of an inward death to sin and resurrection to new life, and Holy Communion joined with the practice of feet washing, both understood as rites that show the believer is one with Christ.
The distinctive note of the church's teaching is the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Perfecting Church teaches that this baptism is subsequent to salvation, necessary for every believer, and is initially accompanied by the evidence of speaking in other tongues. The statement of faith also describes a doctrine of total prosperity that covers the spiritual, mental, physical, financial, and social dimensions of life, and a law of giving that frames tithing as an act of faith that predates the Mosaic Law. The church expects its members to pursue holiness in daily life, including the teachings on marriage, family, and the avoidance of practices the church considers sinful, from alcohol and gambling to sexual behaviors outside the union of one man and one woman. The church looks for the blessed hope of Christ's return, a rapture of the saints, a thousand-year reign, and a final judgment that ends in the lake of fire for those who have not accepted redemption.
Sunday and Tuesday Gatherings
Worship at Perfecting Church is structured around a Sunday rhythm and a Tuesday midweek rhythm. Sundays begin early with Morning Prayer at 6:00 a.m., followed by the main Morning Worship service at 10:45 a.m. and an Afternoon Worship at 3:00 p.m. Tuesdays carry a similar shape: Morning Prayer at 6:00 a.m., an Afternoon Bible Study at 11:15 a.m., and an Evening Bible Study at 7:00 p.m. that runs alongside an Evening Youth Service at the same hour. The music and worship are rooted in the gospel and charismatic tradition, with the Fine Arts Department coordinating choirs, praise teams, dance, drama, and band.
For those who cannot be in the building, services are livestreamed through a dedicated online channel, and a steady archive of recent messages from Pastor Marvin L. Winans and guest preachers is available to watch or listen to on demand. Recent sermon titles posted include After God Blesses You, Bless Him, Hold On, The Logical and the Least, I See It Now, God's Going to Do It, Lord of Abundance, Stay Focused, If It's Jesus, Then Anything Is Possible, But Sin That It Might Appear Sin, and He Passed Over Me, delivered by Pastor Roy Haynes.
The Departments: A House of Many Ministries
If the motto is "Ministry Means People," the operating system behind it is a long list of departments, each with its own leader, email, and focus. The Hospitality Department is the first point of contact for visitors, greeting at the door, visiting the sick and shut-in, and walking alongside new members in orientation. The Usher Board seats the congregation, assists during the offering, and works with Security to monitor the corridors and restrooms. Security itself patrols the parking lot and surrounding streets during services, watches over the sanctuary, and secures the building afterward, while the Emergency Resources Team prepares for medical and safety incidents and supports the staff and first responders when something unexpected happens.
Behind the scenes, the Audio Department handles professional sound for every service and event, the Catering Department plans and prepares food for church gatherings with a mix of experienced cooks and young volunteers, and the Finance Department counts the weekly contributions alongside the Deacon Board. The Public Relations Department handles press, partnerships, and the church's online presence, while the Political Relations Department reviews and educates the congregation on civic matters. The Transportation Department offers rides to anyone who needs a way to get to worship, and the Follow Up Department pairs newcomers with mentors from their first Sunday forward.
Spiritual formation runs through the Academy to Perfection, the church's Sunday school program for children and teens built around preliminary Bible principles and spiritual lifestyle classes, and through the Ministerial Alliance, a training track for men and women called to preach and teach under Perfecting's covering. The alliance meets monthly for sermon preparation, ministry training, and visits to the sick, the bereaved, and those in convalescent care.
Children, Youth, and Family Life
Three departments care for the next generation. The Nursery Department watches over infants and toddlers from newborn through age three during every service, so parents can worship without distraction. Children's Church, for ages four through eleven, runs its own weekly services and special events focused on holiness, scripture memory, and the foundations of the Christian life. The Youth Department is built around young people ages twelve to twenty and hosts its own weekly Tuesday evening service alongside fellowship activities, mentorship, and the PYC (Perfecting Youth Choir) rehearsals. The Education Department stretches from Kindergarten through College, offering tutoring, scholarship preparation, and follow-up support to students before and after their college years, including book stipends and ongoing accountability.
The Mother's Board takes seriously the Bible's instruction that older women teach the younger, gathering in constant prayer for the church and modeling what it means to be a wife, mother, and woman of faith. The Men's Department focuses on spiritual growth, leadership, and brotherhood, and the Women's Department, called the Wonderful Women of Perfecting, is open to every woman who joins the church. The ladies meet every other month for cell-group touchpoints and sisterhood.
Perfecting Care and the Community Development Corporation
Outside the sanctuary, Perfecting Church is also a community development organization. The Perfecting Community Development Corporation oversees a set of ministries that meet people where they are: the Marvin L. Winans Academy of Performing Arts, the Amelia Agnes Transitional Home for Women, the Jenesta McCraw Youth Activity Center (called the JMac, a hub for youth programming and church events), and the Perfecting Community Care Center. Perfecting Care itself is the church's outreach arm for people in crisis, supplying food, clothing, housing help, and connections to community resources through a center that is open throughout the week.
The Perfecting Overcomers Outreach Department is a Christ-centered recovery ministry for people working through addiction and other strongholds, offering support groups, literature, chaplaincy care, and biblical teaching on freedom. Faith and Finance workshops, held in the gymnasium, walk participants through stewardship and money management. An annual Expungement Fair connects people with legal help to clear old records. The Health and Fitness Department rounds out the body-life with health fairs, fitness classes, community sports, and the annual church picnic.
Music as Ministry
Music runs in the bloodstream of Perfecting Church, and so does the Winans name. Pastor Marvin L. Winans is the fourth of the ten children of David and Delores Winans, a family whose last name is woven into the history of American gospel music. Before he was a pastor, Winans was an original member of the group The Winans, discovered by Andrae Crouch. The group won five Grammy Awards, scored multiple Billboard R&B hits, and helped reshape gospel music for a new generation without losing the message of Jesus Christ. Winans went on to produce and record a solo album, Alone but Not Alone, and an album with his brothers titled Foreign Land, and he founded his own label, MLW Productions. He still sings in and at Perfecting's services. The Fine Arts Department, with its choirs, praise teams, dance ministry, drama ministry, and band, carries that legacy forward, and the church runs a bookstore and online estore stocked with Christian literature, music, and specialty items.
Perfecting Fellowship International
The reach of Perfecting Church no longer fits inside a single zip code. The congregation is part of Perfecting Fellowship International, a network of churches in the United States, the United Kingdom, and South Africa. Pastor Winans serves as Bishop-Elect of the fellowship, while also serving as Senior Pastor of Perfecting Church-Toledo in Ohio. The fellowship is built on the same body of beliefs as the Detroit mother church, and its mission is to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom, unite the body of Christ, and empower pastors for effective ministry at the local level. Every year, the pastors and churches of PFI gather for an annual Holy Convocation for vision, direction, and fellowship.
A New Campus on the Horizon
Perfecting Church is preparing to move. The plans that the church has shared describe a new campus at the intersection of 7 Mile and Woodward, in the heart of Detroit. The new site will cover more than twenty acres and include a 4,300-seat sanctuary, a parking structure, office space, and market-rate condominiums. The motivation is the same one that has animated the ministry since the basement on Winans' home: more room for the people who are still coming. The phrase the church keeps returning to is simple and unchanged: Perfecting Church, still so much more.
Planning a Visit
Perfecting Church is located at 7616 E. Nevada, Detroit, MI 48234, and the main phone line is 313.36.JESUS (313-365-3787). The Hospitality Department and Usher Board are positioned to welcome first-time guests, and the Follow Up Department is designed to stay in touch after a first visit. The church's main services are livestreamed online for those watching from home, and giving can be done online as well. Visitors with children from newborn through age eleven can drop them at the Nursery or Children's Church; older youth have their own Tuesday evening service. Free transportation to worship is available through the Transportation Department. Those who want to know more can request a ministering visit from Bishop-Elect Winans, sign up to become a member, or join the text alert system to stay connected to weekly news and events.