MIDLAND Evangelism is a key part of the Rev. Larry Long’s ministry, he says, because Christianity must grow to combat the world’s moral and spiritual deterioration.
As pastor of Fellowship Community Church at 5206 Midland Drive., Long is a Christian and Missionary Alliance minister who focuses on the New Testament and its message of discipleship.
“The greater part of my preaching is on the New Covenant that we believe God established with humanity through Jesus Christ with His gifts of grace, forgiveness and salvation through Jesus’ atoning sacrifice on the Cross,” Long said. “Our primary purpose is to be faithful as disciples and do the evangelization that Jesus wants us to do.
“The church is the salt of the world. The world we live in is dark and putrefying, and we want to be that salt. The church is the pillar and foundation of truth, the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way. God is moving in some wonderful and powerful ways.”
Long is a 56-year-old native of Cheyenne, Wyo., who graduated from Crown College in St. Bonifacius, Minn., and Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Ky., and served churches in Tecumseh, Okla., and Centerville, La., before his arrival in Midland in 2001. He and his wife Melissa have two daughters.
An average of 75 people attends his 10:30 a.m. Sunday services, after which Long hosts a radio show, “The Intersection,” on KWEL, 1070 AM, from noon to 1 p.m. His associate pastor is the Rev. Lonnie Phillips.
Long, president of the Midland Ministerial Alliance, said that while Christianity is under siege in the U.S. in a cultural sense, hundreds of Christians are murdered daily in North Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, Iran and Libya. He helped organize a “Unity March” around Grande Communications Stadium and Security Bank Ballpark in March last year “to show unity with persecuted believers around the world,” he said, noting that more than 1,000 people took part.
The Rev. Roy Smith, pastor of True-Lite Christian Fellowship, said Long “is an easy-going, nice man who is very set on what he believes.
“Larry’s value system is very high,” Smith said. “He has a Christian world view and is not interested in varying from that view, which I admire. Larry tries to pull people together. He wants them to be in harmony and love one another.
“He reaches across ethnic and denominational lines, and there is no telling who he will be with on any given day. He just likes people, and that has drawn a lot of people to him.”
