The story of Faithful Stones Church is one of reformation.
The church began in the summer of 1980 at 800 Sycamore Street as a much different ministry. It was founded as a Church of God in Christ (COGIC) in the Word of Faith movement and continued in those ways until 2019.
The church was moved to 120 Laurel Street under the name Word of Faith COGIC in 1981. The church remained in that location for about 1½ years. The ministry grew from a membership of 5 to 45 which exceeded the seating capacity, so a search for a larger facility began. In 1983, the church moved to its current location at 299 East Utica Street. The building was formerly used as a post office. In 1995, the current sanctuary was built with a seating capacity of over 300 people.
In 2019, Mark Hamilton, who had been serving as an elder, became the church's lead pastor. Mark Hamilton, along with fellow elder Cyrus Hines, by God’s grace began to realize that much of the ministry of (what was known at that time as) Word of Faith church was not in accordance with Scripture. That year, reformation began. The ministry continued to reform into what it is today. In 2021 the church officially became Faithful Stones Church.
Formerly a Word of Faith church, God has seen fit to allow Faithful Stones Church to grow into a thoroughly Confessional Reformed Baptist Congregation. It was a truly miraculous transition. There is a continued recognition of the need for renewal and reform. We welcome this message of The Reformation: semper reformanda — “always reforming."
Our desire is to honor Scriptural teaching over tradition and to humble ourselves and submit to the authority of the Sacred Text. The changes were not a transition into new theology or anything novel, but rather a turning towards what had been long revealed in God’s Word.
Faithful Stones Church is a community of believers crying out in the city, for the city. God’s name and renown are the desire of our soul (Isaiah 26:8). The church has a variety of ministries, each of which serves a vital role in building and sustaining the house of God. The Great Commission has been the vision: training an army of men and women, to go forth and win souls for Christ. The vision of the church continues, with the desire to meet the needs of this community through the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The elders continue to pursue the mission of the Great Commission through faithful preaching and teaching, strengthening the believers, making disciples, and leading the church into biblical reformation by the Word of God.
For Christ, by Christ, in Christ.
