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About us

Dothan Community Church is a multicultural, intergenerational community of believers committed to living by the book.

HISTORY

In the spring of 1980 W. Charles Lewis was called by God to a church planting ministry destined for Dothan, Alabama. After receiving staff training with the Navigators at the University of Illinois (Champaign/Urbana) in the fall of 1980, he enrolled at Dallas Theological Seminary in 1981. While at Dallas Theological Seminary, Lewis became a part of the staff of the Urban Evangelical Mission - a church planting organization of which Dr. Tony Evans was a founder. It was through the ministry of the Urban Evangelical Mission that Lewis gained his first exposure to church planting. Upon graduating from Dallas in 1985, Lewis became Minister of Evangelism and Education at New Covenant Bible Church in Birmingham, Alabama - this was the first church that the Urban Evangelical Mission planted (1973).

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In 1980, when Lewis embraced God's church planting call, he asked fellow Tuskegee University student, Eddie Robinson, if he would join him in a church planting ministry in Dothan. Robinson said yes and asked Lewis to keep him informed. While in Dallas, W. Charles and his wife, Jerrie, were joined by another Tuskegee University graduate, Evelyn Baskin. She was asked to join the Dothan church planting team. Evelyn answered in the affirmative. Now living in Birmingham, Alabama, Lewis was visited by his close friend and former seminary dorm mate, Chester McFarland. During the visit Lewis asked Chester to join the Dothan church planting team and he too answered in the affirmative.

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Having assembled a church planting team, W. Charles and Jerrie moved from Birmingham to Dothan on June 2, 1987. Chester McFarland moved from Dallas, Texas to Dothan on June 28, 1987. Eddie and Angela Robinson relocated to Dothan from Columbus, Mississippi on July 10, 1987, followed by Evelyn Baskin who came to Dothan from Tuscaloosa on September 5, 1987.

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With no formal church name, the Lewises began to hold worship services in their dining room in the fall of 1987. In February of 1988, the services were moved to the Community Room at Dothan's Northside Mall. Still with no formal church name, the small group began to call themselves Christians in Fellowship.

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In May of 1988 the group was presented two options for a church name: Grace Community Church and Dothan Community Church. Dothan Community Church was adopted and the church held its first public worship service on July 31, 1988. After meeting at Northside Mall for eight years, Dothan Community Church moved its services to the Wiregrass Rehabilitation Center until April of 2001 when it began meeting at its present location at 4390 Westgate Parkway.

From the archives

Dr. Tony Evans
Andy Stanley

Dothan Community Church is a multicultural, intergenerational community of believers committed to living by the book.

Our History

In the spring of 1980 W. Charles Lewis was called by God to a church planting ministry destined for Dothan, Alabama. After receiving staff training with the Navigators at the University of Illinois (Champaign/Urbana) in the fall of 1980, he enrolled at Dallas Theological Seminary in 1981. While at Dallas Theological Seminary, Lewis became a part of the staff of the Urban Evangelical Mission - a church planting organization of which Dr. Tony Evans was a founder. It was through the ministry of the Urban Evangelical Mission that Lewis gained his first exposure to church planting. Upon graduating from Dallas in 1985, Lewis became Minister of Evangelism and Education at New Covenant Bible Church in Birmingham, Alabama - this was the first church that the Urban Evangelical Mission planted (1973).

​

In 1980, when Lewis embraced God's church planting call, he asked fellow Tuskegee University student, Eddie Robinson, if he would join him in a church planting ministry in Dothan. Robinson said yes and asked Lewis to keep him informed. While in Dallas, W. Charles and his wife, Jerrie, were joined by another Tuskegee University graduate, Evelyn Baskin. She was asked to join the Dothan church planting team. Evelyn answered in the affirmative. Now living in Birmingham, Alabama, Lewis was visited by his close friend and former seminary dorm mate, Chester McFarland. During the visit Lewis asked Chester to join the Dothan church planting team and he too answered in the affirmative.

​

Having assembled a church planting team, W. Charles and Jerrie moved from Birmingham to Dothan on June 2, 1987. Chester McFarland moved from Dallas, Texas to Dothan on June 28, 1987. Eddie and Angela Robinson relocated to Dothan from Columbus, Mississippi on July 10, 1987, followed by Evelyn Baskin who came to Dothan from Tuscaloosa on September 5, 1987. After nine months, Evelyn Baskin returned to Tuscaloosa to continue her education and Mary Dunn (Byrd) filled her position on the team.

​

With no formal church name, the Lewises began to hold worship services in their dining room in the fall of 1987. In February of 1988, the services were moved to the Community Room at Dothan's Northside Mall. Still with no formal church name, the small group began to call themselves Christians in Fellowship.

​

In May of 1988 the group was presented two options for a church name: Grace Community Church and Dothan Community Church. Dothan Community Church was adopted and the church held its first public worship service on July 31, 1988. After meeting at Northside Mall for eight years, Dothan Community Church moved its services to the Wiregrass Rehabilitation Center until April of 2001 when it began meeting at its present location at 4390 Westgate Parkway.

From the archives

Dr. Tony Evans
Andy Stanley

Our VISION

ENVISION THE VISION

 

I can see it now. PEOPLE.

Black people, white people;

People of different races

From different walks of life.

People not separated by race;

People united by grace - God's grace.

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PEOPLE. People of the same family;

People who have the same Father;

People who are members of the same body.

People who know who they are:

The children of God,

The body of Christ,

Brothers and sisters by blood - Christ's blood.

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PEOPLE. Born again people.New creatures.

Reconciled to God and to each other.

People worshiping together, fellowshipping together, rejoicing together.

People. God's people, filled to running over.

Filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,

goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

Filled with the spirit - The Holy Spirit.

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A picture of heaven? Perhaps.

the vision of a local church? Indeed.

And I can see it now.

Our Mission

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OUR DISCIPLEMAKING STRATEGY

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  • Seeking to save the lost.

  • Seeking to church the saved.

  • Seeking to family the churched.

  • Seeking to establish the familied.

  • Seeking to equip the established.

  • Seeking to employ and deploy the equipped.

  • Seeking to encourage the employed and deployed.

Our Beliefs

God

We believe in one Triune God, eternally existing in three Persons; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Members of the Trinity are eternal in being, identical in essence, equal in power and glory, and have the same attributes and perfections.

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Jesus Christ

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, who became man without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. His mission on earth was to reveal God and redeem sinful man. He lived a life of perfect obedience to the Father and voluntarily atoned for the sins of all by dying on the cross as their substitute, thus accomplishing salvation for all who trust in Him alone. His power to redeem mankind was proven through His literal, physical resurrection from the dead. He is enthroned at the right hand of God where He ministers for the redeemed as High Priest, Intercessor, and Advocate.

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Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Trinity. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgement, and is the supernatural agent in regeneration. At the point of salvation He permanently indwells every believer and seals them until the day of redemption. He bestows spiritual gifts, guides the believer in understanding the Scriptures, and provides supernatural enablement to lead a life of Christlike character and to bear fruit to the glory of God.

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The Bible

We believe the Holy Scriptures, composed of the sixty six books of the Old and New Testaments, to be the verbally inspired Word of God, the final authority for faith and life, inerrant in the original writings, infallible and God-breathed. They came by inspiration of God to divinely chosen men, such that they speak with the authority of God yet reflect the backgrounds, styles, and vocabularies of the human authors. The design and purpose of Scripture is for our practical instruction, and there are no other writings similarly inspired by God.  

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The Church 

We believe that there is one universal church, comprised of all those who acknowledge Jesus Christ as Savior. The practical outworking of the universal church is the local church, which is a group of committed believers gathered together to devote themselves to worship, prayer, teaching of the Word, communion, fellowship, service to the body through gifts and talents, and outreach to the world. Wherever God's people meet regularly in obedience to this command, there is the local expression of the church. Under the leadership of the elders, its members are to work together in love and unity, intent on the one ultimate purpose of glorifying Christ.

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The Depravity of Man

We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam's sin the race broke fellowship with God, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God. Every human being, the Man Christ Jesus excepted, is born with a nature in rebellion toward God, essentially and unchangeably bad, and unable to please God apart from divine grace.

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Salvation

We believe that the only way to enter a right relationship with God is through trusting in the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus Christ to forgive one's sin. Trusting in Jesus is a personal act involving repentance and faith. Salvation is wholly a work of God's free grace, not the result in whole or part of any human works or goodness.

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Eternal Security

We believe that all true believers, once saved, are kept by God's power and are thus secure in Christ forever. No power, natural or supernatural, is able to remove the gift of eternal life from the child of God.

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The Ministry of Believers

We believe that every Christian is called to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. Spiritual gifts must be exercised in love to serve one another, edify the local church, and build up the body of Christ. Spiritual gifts are to be exercised according to biblical principles, not emotions of man's opinions. The Lord calls all believers to a life of discipleship, and a singular goal of making disciples of all nations. We also believe it is the responsibility of all believers to remember the work of the Lord in prayer and to support it with their time, talents, and possessions as the Lord has prospered them.

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Human Destiny

We believe in the bodily resurrection of all mankind. Death seals the eternal destiny of every person. At death, the souls of those who have trusted Christ for salvation pass immediately into His presence, and there await the first resurrection, when soul and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord. The souls of unbelievers remain to suffer everlasting conscious punishment in the Lake of Fire.

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Satan

We believe that Satan is a real angelic being who was created perfect but was cast out of heaven because of pride. He is the author of sin and the instigator of mankind's fall from grace. He is the spiritual ruler of this present world, but shall be eternally punished with all unbelievers in the Lake of Fire.

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The Second Advent of Christ

We believe that the next great event in the fulfillment of prophecy will be the return of the Lord in the air to gather His people {both the living believers and those who have died in Christ} to heaven. In light of the imminent coming of the Lord, believers are to live godly lives, comfort one another, and eagerly wait for the Lord's return.

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History
Our Vision
Our Mission
Our Beliefs
Our Staff
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