ABOUT US

OUR PASTOR

Pastor Art Lewis

Pastor Arthur H. Lewis was called to minister the Word of God at a young age and has demonstrated his burden for building strong communities by ministering to the needs of individuals and family units.

Pastor Lewis was born and raised in Jamaica, West Indies. He is a graduate of Mico Teacher's College (now Mico University College) majoring in Industrial Arts and continued his training with an internship at Tarrant Junior Secondary School. He received his first formal training in Theology as a student of The Jamaica Open Bible Institute and served as Sunday School Superintendent and Youth Chaplain under the leadership of Dr. F.S. Bent, founder and Senior Pastor of the First Born Church Ministries. After migrating to the United States, Pastor Lewis graduated from the Manhattan Bible School and went on to Nyack College where he obtained his B.S. in Church Management.

Pastor Lewis and his dear wife of more than 40 years, Minister Gene Lewis, have been anointed to plant and restore Churches. They are co-founders of The Grace Church of the First Born—a ministry that began in their apartment in Brooklyn, NY and has expanded into several branches of ministries. Pastor Lewis was the pastor of Calvary Revival Center in Plainfield, NJ for ten years. Using this ministry, God touched the community through several outreach initiatives and strengthened the youth and young adults to excel and become successful doctors, lawyers, engineers, and business professionals.

Most recently Pastor and Min. Lewis founded the Gospel Church of the First Born (GCFB) in Piscataway, NJ. God encouraged them through many obstacles and provided a way for GCFB to open the doors of its own building located at 177 Delavan Street in New Brunswick, NJ, where Pastor Lewis serves as the Senior Pastor.

Pastor and Min. Lewis were married in July of 1972 and have two daughters, Deon and Michelle, one son-in-law, Noe’, and one grandson, Jonathan. They are very thankful and grateful to their dear Lord who has seen it fit to use them to minister to so many people for so many years and will continue to do so as they proclaim “To God be the Glory”!

HISTORY OF THE GOSPEL CHURCH OF THE FIRST BORN

Our first meeting took place on Sunday March 7^th, 1999 at 6:00 PM in the basement of the then-home of our Pastors at 50 Maplehurst Lane, Piscataway NJ. In January of the following year (2000) we started meeting on Sunday Mornings in the same location.

Our next chapter started on the first Sunday in October of the same year (2000) when the Lord saw fit to take us out of the basement and into the upper room of the River Road Fire Company Hall in Piscataway, NJ. As we continued meeting there, we trusted the Lord that the next move would be to our own church property, and hoped it would be in the near future. Since our first meeting our congregation grew both in membership and regular visitors, and for this we say, “To God be the glory”. We continued in the fire station hall for the next eleven years. Unfortunately, a number of our members relocated to other states and our membership decreased substantially. But with God, all things are possible.

Even though we had a smaller group, by faith we prayed for our own building. God answered our prayers by providing an opportunity for us to purchase a building through the real estate services of our brother in Christ, Deacon John Neals, who along with his wife, Min. Neals, has been faithful to their home church while continually supporting GCFB with prayers, presence, and offerings. Thanks be to God, our building was purchased on August 11^th, 2011. However, this was by no means the end of our struggles…

· … Before the building was purchased we were assured that since the building was owned by a non-profit organization, Catholic Veterans, we would have no problem converting it to a church, it would just be a matter of transferring from one non-profit to the other.

· After purchasing the building, we were opposed by some of the city officials. We were informed that we could not have a church here, but “if God is for us, who can be against us?” We negotiated a contingency where we’d be granted approval if we worked to make the building compliant with city regulations for places of worship. When the time came for the committee to take a vote, we received a unanimous win when only five out of the seven were needed for approval.

· Next, we were informed that we will have to pay property tax until we obtained the certificate of occupancy. This presented a great hardship because we had used all the savings to purchase the property. At the same time, we had to pay for numerous renovations to make the property compliant by city standards. All this seemed like a mighty mountain which would be hard to move, but we have a God who specializes in things thought impossible.

· Banks declared that they do not lend to churches unless its membership and monthly intake is above a certain amount but our Father who is rich in houses and land, who holds the wealth of the world in His hand, made a way when there seemed to be no way.

Our sister churches which are called “The Covenant Churches” came together to aid us. They came from Bezer Holiness Church in New Rochelle, NY ,under the leadership of Bishop Martin Nelson, Calvary Community Church in Brooklyn , NY under the leadership of Pastor Cecil Henry and Life Giving Church of God in Newark, NJ under the leadership of Pastor Neville Johnson.

These men of God have stood by us with their prayers, presence, gifts, and support. Pastors, you will never know how much your love and support has blessed us. You are greatly appreciated and loved.

There are also two young men, our brothers in Christ, who we give God special thanks for, even as we thank Him for all who have come alongside to help us in this journey:

(1) Brother Erik Arias. The owner of the contracting company responsible for the remodeling of the outside front of the building. We did not previously know him before he undertook the assignment but somehow God led Pastor Lewis to him.

(2) Bro Ronnie Robinson. He was responsible for the remodeling of the sanctuary and the hall downstairs. Those who saw the building when we first got it, still find it hard to believe it’s the same building, even one of the previous owners. You cannot find a harder, more dedicated worker.

Bro Ronnie worked as if there was no tomorrow, he worked heartily as unto the Lord and not to men. Everything had to be done the right way. When it was time to stop for lunch, Bro Ronnie would be the first to be back on the job. He never seemed to be tired.

Thank you to our friends, relatives, members who have relocated to other states and brothers and sisters from other churches who support by sending offerings through the mail and who voluntarily commit to helping with this project on a monthly basis. It reminds us of when Israel was building the temple and God’s people gave willingly and joyfully. Thank you for being obedient, for we know it was the Lord’s doing.

God has given us just a few members to work with but we are dedicated to accomplishing God’s will and plan. Our faithful members continuously give sacrificially to the Lord and so we have never felt it necessary to seek other methods of income. Jehovah Jireh continually provides through the willingness of his children. Thank God for all of our members who worked enthusiastically to make this day possible. “We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us”.

We liken ourselves to Gideon and the children of Israel. When God sent Gideon to lead Israel against the Midianites, he chose an army of thirty thousand men but God said “that’s too many”. Gideon reduced the number to three thousand, still God said, “too many”. Then God helped him to choose only three hundred. The enemy was great in number but the three hundred were able to defeat the enemy with only a few by depending on God. We are small in number but not in faith so with Jesus as our captain we are sure to win.

Last, but by no means the least, we want to thank God for our pastor, founder, and visionary, Pastor Arthur Lewis with his lovely wife, Minister Gene Lewis, both faithful servants of God. God seemed to have given our pastor a special portion of humility and patience. He worked day and night along with everyone else and sometimes more. He had to make numerous trips to city hall in New Brunswick NJ, they surely must know him by sight now. When others saw impossibility, he saw every possibility. He would not give up or give in. He is a man of faith who does not run away when the going gets tough but exercises his trust in a God who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above what we are able to ask or think of Him. He engages in the fight knowing that the hotter the battle is, the sweeter the victory will be.

Many people see the glory but do not know the story. If you should hear the whole story you would without hesitation join us in saying,

“TO GOD BE THE GLORY”.

What was a club house is now a house of prayer.

What was a dance hall for the unsaved is now a hall of praise for the saved. Look what the Lord has done!

It is amazing what God can do and it is marvelous in our eyes.

At present we have a capable board of trustees, a prayer team, the women’s auxiliary, the Christian education staff, all working together for one common purpose, that the name of the Lord will be glorified in all we do!

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