OUR STORY

On August 8, 1984, Bread of Life Christian Center was formed with an initial group of 20 members through the vision of our founder, the late Bishop L. D. Skinner, Sr and his endearing and supporting wife, Lady Ruth Skinner. With faith in God and confidence in our leader, we began to hold services in the basement of our Pastor’s home at 518 Honolulu Drive in Columbus, Georgia. Within 3 months, we began to rent and share space from Truelight Missionary Baptist Church, pastored by Reverend Robert Farley. It was there that God began to show signs of our blessings to come.

While at Truelight Missionary Baptist Church, from September 1984 to 1985, our hearts were strengthened, and our spirits were edified as God began to prepare us for a place to worship that we could call our own. During that time, God touched the hearts of various people whom we received generous donations from. Pastor W. K. Brown gifted us with chairs for our sanctuary, Brenda Fulton gifted us a piano, and Pastors Robert and Helen Parnell provided us an initial meeting place.

During that time, we believed God and prayed that we would have our own place to worship. In September of 1985, our prayers were answered, as God allowed us to rent commercial property at 3637 Buena Vista Road. While there from September 1985 until November 1987, we were able to stand still and see the salvation of the living God. Our growth was slow, but imminent, as our leader encouraged us to hold fast and prove faithful.

With a testimony of victory and trials that made us stronger, we began to seek God to purchase a place to worship that we could call home. Our membership had now grown to approximately 55 members. In December of 1987, we were able to purchase our own property at 1137 Floyd Road, which consisted of a 250 seat-sanctuary, with 3 houses that sat on 6 acres.

In 1996, we were favored by God to purchase our second and current church home at 4510 Oates Avenue. At this location, we are humbled to worship in a facility with a 650-seat capacity, a youth wing that seats 125 children, a fellowship hall that accommodates 100 people, and the utility of 20 classrooms for teaching and training. We also still own the 250-seat sanctuary at 1137 Floyd Road, and now utilize that commercial space as rental property. The Lord has continued to smile upon us here and has given us decades of success.

In November of 2014, our founder along with our Board of Directors, officially installed Pastor L. Darnel Skinner, Jr. as Lead Pastor of Bread of Life Christian Center. We believed that Pastor Darnel would be the “Joshua” God would use to lead us into our divine “Promise Land”. With his leadership, our ministry has undergone dynamic transformation and God has used him in a mighty way to carry the torch and further propel us into our future. Standing by his side and faithfully serving our ministry is his loving wife, First Lady Arnece Skinner.

Today, our church has grown to several hundred members. This growth has given way to us holding multiple weekly worship services and having more than 25 active ministries available for members to connect and serve. Along with that, we have an established TV commercial presence, a regular street evangelism ministry, and an active social media ministry. On a periodic basis, our ministry utilizes billboards, the local newspaper and radio advertisement to reach our community. Our community impact also found in the us offering a fully functional Food and Clothing Bank to meet the needs of others. We are also very proud to say that we have an active and thriving youth ministry that includes a variety of teaching, training, spring break and summer camps, and much more.

All of these things and more have led to thousands of lives being positively impacted, hundreds of souls being saved, and God’s Kingdom being expanded in the earth through our ministry. To God be the glory for the wonderful things He has done!