A decade of ministry

"My most memorable moments have been baptizing my son into the church and conducting my son's wedding at the church," Rev. Tony Sirten stated.

Church of the Living Water (CotLW) will reach a milestone this December with the celebration of their 10th anniversary.

Rev. Sirten began the church in June of 1996, "With eight founding members, and we met in a members' home for
several months."

The church now has a permanent home at 731 S. Dickerson Pike in Goodlettsville.

The anniversary celebration begins on Friday, Dec. 15 at 6:30 p.m. Rev. Randy Meadows and Rev. Mike Myrick
will be preaching and Rev. Sam Samson will conduct special music.

This will also be the ordination service for Sister Arlene Hall.

92Q's Connie Darnell will be the Mistress of Ceremony on Saturday , Dec. 16, with Fred Francis leading special music.

The Homecoming will culminate on the following day, with Rev. Evelyn Schave and Rev. Dennis Schave from Community Gospel Church in Houston, Texas leading the 10:30 and 6:30 services, respectively.
CotLW presently has 38 members and averages 40 people per service.

"We have prided ourselves on not being a Gay church but a Christian church," explained Pastor Sirten of the ministry focus of CotLW. "We have ordained 12 ministers and helped start two churches in other states. Our outreach efforts include a nursing home service each month, an ongoing volunteer program with Odyssey Hospice and include reaches into Turkey and El Salvador."

Future objectives involve building a modern facility and building a long-term care facility that will meet the needs of those with or without insurance.

Rev. Sirten is also a full time nurse and Ronnie, his partner of 12 years, is a human resource manager.

Sirten travels about eight times a year preaching revivals and says, "The most difficult thing about pastoring is working full time and meeting the many needs of the church."

Pastor Sirten is joined in ministry by Deacon Steve McKinney, Rev. Mike Myrick and Rev. Jack Gregory.

Photo by Tanushree Rao on Unsplash

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