In the News…

Pastor Long was recently featured in the Log Cabin newspaper, below you will find the article in it’s entirety:

The Church Alive is celebrating Pastor Randy Long’s 25th anniversary with the church.

Long moved from St. Louis to Conway in 1984 to become the pastor, which was then Harlan Park Assembly of God on Dave Ward Drive. In 1999, the church moved to its location on Highway 65.

Long said the church had 50 or 60 members in 1984.

“There are over 500 now, and about 1,000 people call that their church home," Long said. "It’s come a long way for us."

He said he was 23 years old when he became pastor. Before that he had been an associate pastor in St. Louis for three years.

"This is my first church to be a senior pastor. They took a big chance," Long said. "Conway has been good to us. We have had three children born here, two that graduated high school here. Our son (Ryan) graduated from UCA. Our youngest one is in sixth grade."

Long and his wife, Patty, have three children, Ryan, 24, Vanessa, 22, and Michael, 12.

He added, "I had no idea we would come to Arkansas. When the call came for us to interview the moment we drove into the city, we knew we were coming here."

He concluded, "It feels like to me that I’ve only been here a few months. I can’t believe where the 25 years have gone. The opportunity and the mission, the vision is greater than ever before. I still feel fresh. I feel like I have more than ever to do. This week I traveled out of state. I always look forward to coming to Conway."

On Sunday, the church will recognize Long’s accomplishments in the morning service, and a lunch in his honor will follow the service.

TheCabin.net ·· Long celebrating 25th year with Church Alive 04/25/09

Celebrating 25 Years!

Dear Friend,

We are pleased to announce that April 15th was the 25th anniversary of Pastor Long and Patty’s ministry at The Church Alive. This is a wonderful accomplishment that we would like to recognize. Pastor Long has been dedicated in ministering to our lives, and his focus has always been on what God wants for this ministry. God has blessed the church through the anointing that He has placed on Pastor Long and his entire family.

As a church we feel our purpose is to reach our community. One of the tools God has provided to reach this community is our beautiful facility. As you may be aware we still have a large debt on the church property, which we always hope and pray for wisdom in reducing or retiring. As you may imagine, if our church was debt free it would allow for an abundance of resources that could be used to minister to this community. Whether you have attended The Church Alive for six months or six years you know this is a prayer of our pastor.

On April 26th, we would like to recognize the 25 years of service of our pastor with a lunch following the morning service. We believe this would not be complete without your presence. We also would ask that you pray about participating in an anniversary gift for Pastor Long that would go toward retiring the debt of our church. During the morning service or anytime before you may contribute toward this special love and appreciation gift; simply mark your offering envelope or check “25 years”. Or you can give online, click here…

We know coming together like this will have a huge impact on retiring the church’s three million dollar debt, and will be a tremendous way to honor Pastor Long and Patty’s 25 years of dedicated service to The Church Alive. If you have any questions or comments feel free to call the church secretary, Gail Clark, at 501-327-4763 or any of the church board members.

Sincerely,

The Board of The Church Alive

• Bill Dickson
• Shane Dickson
• Trey Elliott
• Charlie Thomason