After years of teaching Bible Study on the campus of Indiana University-Bloomington, Bishop William L. McCoy, D.D., Ph.D., felt a calling and leading of the Lord to start a church ministry here in Bloomington, Indiana. After searching for direction from God, it was a conversation that he had with former Pastor, District Elder Leroy Jackson of East Chicago, Indiana, that prompted him to go ahead with this challenge. Pastor Jackson said, "Son, if you will accept the challenge of the Pastorate, I will help pay the rent for you if you need it." Bishop McCoy never once had to call for his assistance.
Bishop McCoy, along with his wife, LaSaundra, and their three children Ambrilynn, Andre'an, and Aareone, supported this move of God. The first service was held on Sunday, November 19, 1995 at 2:00 p.m. Bishop McCoy had asked Pastor Norris if he could share his sanctuary with him on Sunday afternoons when Cherry Hill was not in service. Pastor Norris willingly agreed.
There were about 30 people in attendance at the first service, and God kept sending "anointed people" through the doors of Cherry Hill for the next two years and five months. When God gave Bishop McCoy the name "Anointed Harvest Fellowship Church," the church truly lived up to its name. Bishop McCoy had asked the Lord whether this was truly what the Lord wanted him to do. He had placed a fleece before the Lord that if people were saved through the ministry, then he would know that Anointed Harvest was of the Lord. God quickly proved that His anointing was with our church. In that short span of time, the church experienced rapid growth. For the first year of Anointed Harvest's existence, there were only four Sundays out of the whole year during which someone didn't go down in water baptism in Jesus' Name. For 48 Sundays, sometimes as many as six people per Sunday would be baptized. During this time, there were also many babies born into the church. Sister Josie Henry, born on June 26, 1997, was the very first "Anointed Harvest baby."
Anointed Harvest started out as - and continues to be - a busy church. Bishop McCoy conducted prayer meetings on Tuesday nights in the homes and apartments of faithful members, and Anointed Harvest witnessed people receiving the Holy Ghost at these services. On Wednesday nights, Bishop McCoy taught Bible Class on campus, at the Indiana University Memorial Union Building, and held choir rehearsals on Thursday nights at the Center for University Ministries. A wonderfully talented young lady by the name of Sister Virginia Githiri asked Bishop McCoy if she could conduct the Anointed Harvest Fellowship Church Choir, and she has been faithful ever since. These faithful saints met in four different locations every week for 2 1/2 years.
The power of God has been seen in this ministry time and time again. In one service, someone brought a blind baby to Bishop McCoy, and the Bishop told the parents, by the Holy Spirit, that the baby was healed . Two weeks later, the saints received the news that the baby could see. In another service, a woman had skin cancer, and after prayer by Bishop McCoy, her cancer fell from her skin while she was in the shower and clogged up the drain as a testimony that she was healed. Another person received prayer for gallstone surgery, but before the operation could take place the report came back that the gallstones had passed through the person's bowels into the bathroom facilities - yet another testimony to the power of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! A woman who had been unable to conceive a child, sent word to the saints to pray for her, after many visits to her Rabbi and to doctors. Shortly after her prayer request to Anointed Harvest, word came back that the woman had become pregnant with twins. Furthermore, the woman glorified God in saying that she knew that it was the prayers of the saints that had opened this miracle unto her. Numerous testimonies such as these did this church witness through the power of God.
After two years of searching, the saints of Anointed Harvest stepped onto the property at 1030 West Country Club Drive and they knew that they had found the place that God wanted them to have. Bishop McCoy told his congregation, "This building is ours and we WILL have it!" Dr. James Mumford, Professor at Indiana University, said, "Pastor, when I drove onto the parking lot, I knew this was ours!" Bishop involved every saint who was available to come and view the property with the realtor, Suzette Weekly of Bloomington Realty.
Top of Page
Anointed Harvest Fellowship Church was so determined that one Sunday, after service, Bishop felt led to march around the building seven times, and almost everyone in attendance that Sunday marched around with him in the rain, including 61 year old Dr. Mumford on a cane. They sang, "In the Name of Jesus, we have the Victory," and they DID have the victory! Another party had offered more money than Anointed Harvest Fellowship could offer to purchase the property. Yet, this church family found so much favor with the Lord that the owners of the building rejected the higher bid because they wanted Anointed Harvest to have the property. Within that same week, the building was released to Anointed Harvest to hold its first service on Sunday, April 12, 1998 (Easter Sunday). By the next week, Bishop McCoy, along with the members of the church Board, signed the title, making the property officially ours on April 23, 1998. Even the realtor, Suzette, told us that she knew the Lord was with us. She felt the presence of the Lord among us so strongly that she was moved to pay a tithe of her commission to Anointed Harvest Fellowship Church.
Having a place that Anointed Harvest can call its own has already proven to be rewarding for the Kingdom of God. After this church family was blessed to finally be able to conduct all of its services in the same location, we had our first Communion Service on August 28, 1998, two days before our Pastor's birthday. The service began at 7:00 p.m. and lasted past midnight. Anointed Harvest witnessed saints being slain in the spirit and weeping over one another's feet in the foot-washing service. Sister Briana Campbell, age 9 at the time, received the gift of the Holy Ghost in this service. The church now has the space for various auxiliaries to function. We are able to have a Sunday School Department consisting of five different classes. The Anointed Harvest Choir has expanded, and the music ministry now also includes a children's choir and a youth choir. Our Youth Ministry provides vital Christian activity and teaching for teenagers, including the annual Youth Bash, where youth are invited from churches all over Indiana to fellowship, receive the Word, and partake in sports and talent competitions. The Children's Haven Ministry caters to the needs of children ages 4 to 12, with services every Sunday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, where the children are taught the precepts of the Word of God while thoroughly enjoying themselves. Almost every child in this ministry is baptized in Jesus' Name, and they are all actively tarrying for the Holy Ghost. God's Anointed Inspiration, our dance ministry, has been used mightily of God to minister through faithful young people. Our Men's Fellowship and Women of Power Auxiliaries have also functioned in the anointing, and many have been blessed by the fellowship fostered by these ministries. In addition, for the past three years God has blessed us to minister to many souls through our weekly radio broadcast, which air every Sunday morning at 9:00 a.m. on Bloomington's Christian radio station, Spirit 95. Bishop McCoy also gives a devotional message every weekday on the same station, and Anointed Harvest is one of the proud sponsors of the Spirit 95 "All for One" Praise Hour. In Addition, Anointed Harvest now has a television ministry, and the church now airs devotional programs featuring Bishop McCoy on the Public Access Channel in Bloomington (Channel 3). God is also using us in a mighty way in the college and wider community. Every year, Anointed Harvest hosts a group of college students who visit our services in partial requirement for a course that is offered at Indiana University. The church also will soon be starting a food pantry to minister to the needy in Bloomington and surrounding areas.
The Lord Jesus has truly blessed us! We are really enjoying what He has done. Our praise is "This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes" (Psalms 118:23). Our beloved Pastor, Bishop William L. McCoy, D.D., Th.D., has a vision and a direction from the Lord. That vision is swiftly unfolding, and we rejoice in how far we have come in only 8 years, but we know that God is able to bless this ministry above anything that we are able to ask or even to think. The best is yet to come. The name "Anointed Harvest" was shown to our Pastor in a vision of a church filled with a Harvest of Anointed People. Isaiah 61:1-2 was immediately laid on his heart. We believe that "the Spirit of the Lord God is upon us and hath anointed us, and the greatest thing He has anointed us to do is to love you." This is the reason why after 8 years, we are "Celebrating an Era of New Beginnings!"