History

The conception of the Victory Apostolic Faith Church began on the night of November 4, 1957 when Founder and Pastor, Elder Reese Price, Jr., heard the call from God. In May of 1961, the council gave Elder Price II permission to open a church. He and the late Dovetta Marie Price II were led by the spirit of God to be about their father’s business. A down payment of $400 was made on an auto repair shop at 6317 South Carpenter Street. The vision was to convert the auto shop into a soul repair and life saving station. After much prayer, the Lord provided the $1,700 needed to close the deal for the shop and renovations began. The late Brother Griffin and Brother Smith of Lockport, Illinois, built the pulpit and installed the baptismal pool. Although the building was still dirty and greasy, a young man that the late Sister Vola Whitten had witnessed to was baptized in Jesus Name and filled with the Holy Ghost – the late Bishop Odears Wright Jr., who became the first son of Victory. On July, 10 1961, the doors of the Victory Apostolic Faith Church were officially opened. Bishop David McCollough preached the opening sermon: ”Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it and the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” The church began its continuing growth and on the very next day the second soul was baptized.

The congregation had grown so much until the small church could no longer

accommodate the people of God for worship. A search began for a new edifice

and as time passed a church was not found. While driving home from Detroit,

Michigan, Elder Price was reminded that he had never asked the Lord for another

church; he assumed God knew what he needed. Elder Price wasted no time and

said, ”Lord, give me one.” That very night Brother B. Brown Jr. approached Elder

Price and stated, “I think we have found a church.” It was a vacant church he

discovered on his postal route at 8053 South May Street. Elder Price immediately

contacted the realty company; they brought him the keys to the church and its

adjacent parsonage. He was told, “Here are the keys, look at the place as much as

you want, just don’t lose them- it is the only set. After you finish looking, make an

offer.” The following Sunday the members were brought to the site. The place fit

like a glove; it was tailor-made just for Victory. Elder Price held up the keys to the congregation and stated, “If we have to give up these keys, we don’t deserve a church building, because God has already given this to us.” Elder Price knew by faith, God had already given them Victory.

In 1971, an offer of $70,000 was made with a down payment of $20,000 and it was accepted. Victory Church only had $4,900 in its savings account. The church requested the bank’s assistance with the remaining down payment of $15,000 but was denied. Only God could have known how Elder Price felt with the keys in his hand, but his faith was unshaken and he knew God had given them the Victory. The saints of Victory rallied and the building fund efforts began. The church raised $647 during the first building fund; $500 of that amount was donated by Brother and Sister Jerry Jones after the death of their first infant son to include him in this great work. Twelve other members took out personal loans of $500 with the Christ Temple Credit Union and the Victory Centers gave their profound financial support. We truly thank God for the things He has done.