Heart of God Ministries in Beckley West Virginia was founded by Elder Fred T. Simms. The church held its first service on Sunday, February 7th, 1993. During our initial years, services were held at the New Era Building located at 1600 South Kanawha Street in Beckley before constructing the building we now call home. Elder Simms’s wife, Sister Marilyn L. Simms, and their daughters led the congregation in praise and worship. The first morning worship service had seventy-two people in attendance. It was during the evening service of that same day that the Heart of God Ministries received its’ first six members which included Mother Audrey Totten and Sis. Willa Mae Green; and one new convert, Sis. Ruth Henry, who joined by way of baptism and while still in the water, also received the baptism of the Holy Ghost!
Often the question has been asked, “Where did the name Heart of God originate?” God spoke through Elder Simms’s ten-year old daughter to call the church “Heart of God.” It was then that Elder Simms realized God was using his daughter to speak to him concerning the name of the church, because she had no foreknowledge of the God-given mandate for Elder Simms to start a church. Believing it was a confirmation from God, the church was so named.God continued to bless us and in 1995, the church purchased property at 1703 South Kanawha Street in East Beckley where the current sanctuary now stands. Groundbreaking ceremonies were held in April of 1996 and construction of the Heart of God Ministries Church began. The new sanctuary was dedicated on Sunday, September 1st, 1996.
In September 2001, a special mortgage burning celebration was held to recognize the achievement of paying off the mortgage in less than five years. This was indeed a joyous time for the congregation, as the church was now debt free.
Since the beginning of the church in 1993, membership has grown significantly, and continues to thrive. It is due to this Godly blessing that in May 2004, Heart of God Ministries again broke ground to begin expansion of the sanctuary. This expansion allowing the spacious seating of seven hundred 700, was dedicated on November 21st, 2004. The church launched its website live on the World Wide Web on September 19th, 2008. We were blessed on January 4th, 2009 to burn the second mortgage, and once again the church was debt free!
January 11th, 2010, Heart of God Ministries aired on Living Faith Television with, “It’s All About God”, on both cable and the internet. In 2011, Heart of God enhanced its social media presence by establishing a facebook page followed by twitter in 2013. Keeping in step with technology, the church began broadcasting via live stream on November 29, 2015.
The church also hosted two Sunday morning radio broadcasts until 2017 - “The Sword of Victory” and currently “Let’s Have Church.” In addition, Heart of God Ministries International Fellowship of Churches currently shepherds church affiliates in Nakrekal, India, pastored by Teegela Johnson; in Orangeburg, South Carolina, pastored by Elders Furman and Sherral Guinyard; Heart of God Charleston under the pastoral leadership of Elder Tia Welch; and in 2017, Royal Kingdom Ministries located in Capels, WV entered into fellowship with the Heart of God family.
The church continued to be a blessing through a collegiate scholarship fund established by Brother Jimmie Anderson in 2010. The Mother Audrey Totten and Jimmie Anderson scholarship fund awarded the first recipients in 2011. In 2015, a new scholarship challenge was implemented to enable the ministry to be an even greater blessing to its members.
Pastor Simms believes that the community cannot survive without the church, and the church cannot survive without the community. Since, the beginning, the ministry has sown into the community through neighborhood enhancement projects, back to school community events, Spirit of Excellence awards recognizing area talent, blood drive programs, job fairs, etc. The former works are accompanied by a divinely inspired desire to establish a “multi-purpose” buiding to aid in the advancement of the mission. God has granted us the opportunity to better our community, to transform lives and to make a difference.
To God be the Glory for all the marvelous and wonderful things that He has done! We’ve come this far by faith, and God is not finished with us yet! We are…“Reaching people with God’s love….so come on…..Let’s Have Church!”