Our Beginnings
By 2023, Steve and Rosie Young already had over 60 years of ministry experience between them, including planting and pastoring a church in Maine for 16 years. Steve had preached meetings in several different countries. They moved to Tennessee in 2018, quite sure that they would strictly be doing traveling ministry from that point forward. They liked the mild winters and summers in Mountain City and were willing to drive to Johnson City to go to church. After attending another church, they began attending His Presence Church soon after it started in 2021. One Wednesday night, Pastor Rex at HPC had a word from God for Steve and Rosie - that they would have an opportunity to do ministry that they would think wasn't something they would do, but it would be God's will. They sought the Lord about it and within days they knew that God's mandate for them was to plant a Spirit-led signs-and-wonders church in Mountain City.'
They soon realized that God was up to something in Mountain City. He had been speaking to Spirit-filled people from other states to move to Mountain City for some time, and there was a new interest among some of the local people about being baptized with the Holy Spirit. Mountain City was ready for a church to train people to go out and do the works of Jesus, laying hands on the sick, taking authority over evil spirits, and proclaiming the grace of God and God's goodness instead of just the Ten Commandments and legalism.
The Youngs made arrangements with the American Legion in April 2023 and services began as unincorporated gatherings on Thursday nights at 7pm. People were healed and baptized with the Holy Spirit and they experienced the presence of God in a tangible way. Encounter God Church was incorporated as a Tennessee nonprofit on August 8, 2023 and was then registered with Johnson County. A board meeting was called in October 2023 to ratify legal documents, after which Encounter God Church began operating as a normal church (from a legal perspective only!). Our first Sunday service was held on October 22, 2023 with 23 people present. The church as a whole preferred meeting in the afternoon instead of the morning so that everyone could sleep in on Sunday morning, so the gathering time on Sunday is 4pm.
As of November 2023, the church is in the process of applying for its own independent 501(c)(3) status with the IRS. It is already tax-exempt and gifts are already tax-deductible under the U. S. tax code.
They soon realized that God was up to something in Mountain City. He had been speaking to Spirit-filled people from other states to move to Mountain City for some time, and there was a new interest among some of the local people about being baptized with the Holy Spirit. Mountain City was ready for a church to train people to go out and do the works of Jesus, laying hands on the sick, taking authority over evil spirits, and proclaiming the grace of God and God's goodness instead of just the Ten Commandments and legalism.
The Youngs made arrangements with the American Legion in April 2023 and services began as unincorporated gatherings on Thursday nights at 7pm. People were healed and baptized with the Holy Spirit and they experienced the presence of God in a tangible way. Encounter God Church was incorporated as a Tennessee nonprofit on August 8, 2023 and was then registered with Johnson County. A board meeting was called in October 2023 to ratify legal documents, after which Encounter God Church began operating as a normal church (from a legal perspective only!). Our first Sunday service was held on October 22, 2023 with 23 people present. The church as a whole preferred meeting in the afternoon instead of the morning so that everyone could sleep in on Sunday morning, so the gathering time on Sunday is 4pm.
As of November 2023, the church is in the process of applying for its own independent 501(c)(3) status with the IRS. It is already tax-exempt and gifts are already tax-deductible under the U. S. tax code.