Fellowship Memphis

Vincent and Larren Joplin (above)

I was saved as a child in an old Baptist church in Houston TX. I was literally forced down this old fashion aisle toward the altar to get “saved.” I believed in Jesus, but knew little about him, this continued throughout high school. It was around 1996/97 that I started to realize that something was missing. I wanted more! I wasn’t satisfied with just going to church.

After relocating from Austin TX to Memphis for college I could see God transitioning me from religion to relationship. Here in Memphis I joined the Saint Andrew A.M.E Church. This is where I met Nev Johnson who was the Youth Pastor of Saint Andrew and Director of Younglife Urban. He brought me on staff in 1999 and I not only became an employee, but I was truly being discipled. This growing process unlocked my passion for evangelism, discipleship, and accountability. As I look back at everything that happened I can identify God’s hand at work shaping me personally and my ministry. I was able to co-found a college ministry, pour into teens and young adults, and serve under-resourced families.

God sent me a help meet in 2001 named Larren who has seen much of these life changing events. We have one daughter named Renee. My wife and I moved to Maryland in 2004 and our frustration with “church as usual” had grown. Several years after moving back we knew God was moving us to a Kingdom Focused Church like Fellowship. We shared our hearts with our Pastor and received his blessing to come. This was not an easy thing to do, being that I was on staff full-time and she was over the college ministry. We’ve been praying on this for at least two years with “this church” in mind. After I put a plan in place for one of my volunteers to take over as Youth Pastor, God gave us the grace to leave. We’ve been attending since November 2010 and now we are ready to join Fellowship completely.