Clayton Rosa
Staff Reporter
“The call of God,” responds Pastor Philip U. Daniels when asked what led him to the creation of Agape’ Ministries C.O.G.I.C. (Church of God in Christ). “I was in church one Sunday morning about eight years ago, and I heard the Lord say that there are sheep in need of a shepherd. I prayed about it and kept it in my heart.”
Agape’ Ministries C.O.G.I.C., which holds Sunday service at 11 a.m. in the Westminster Community Center and bible study every Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in the Black Student Union clubroom at McDaniel College, officially began holding service on January 4, 2009, and bible study on July 3, 2008, in the Carroll County Public Library.
Nonetheless, the road was not as straightforward as Daniels had envisioned. Daniels originally wanted to minister in Downtown Baltimore where he grew up as a teenager.
“I wanted to minister to young Black men in the community,” said Daniels, “but things started happening.”
Daniels received his, as he calls it, Macedonian call: “In the book of Acts, when Paul and his people were expected to go to one place, Paul had a dream and ended up going to Macedonia to minister, instead of the original location,” said Daniels.
Daniels then, after consulting with his pastor and wife, and after praying over it, began his ministry work in Westminster.
Daniels describes Agape’ as a church built on principles of evangelism and outreach. “When I was younger, there was a church less than fifty yards from my house and I do not recall them ever knocking on my door, sharing the gospel, or servicing the community,” said Daniels.
“However, we hope to meet the basic needs of those in the shelter and the homeless in the community. We are making monthly donations in support of the shelters ran by the Human Services Program of Carroll County, Inc.”
“We want to hold clinics to serve the basic care needs of the community with my wife, who is a health care professional,” said Daniels. “And we want to be a resource for students at McDaniel who may be in need of supplies or assistance.”
Daniels explains that Christ first fed the 5,000 people, and then he preached to them. “This is why we have a holistic approach, to meet the needs of the whole man: emotionally, physically, and spiritually.”
“There have been moments when I have been frustrated,” said Daniels, “but I have continued to be faithful.”
Daniels hopes to expand the church in the near future and to continue to do community outreach.
“We want to be a resource for the community,” said Daniels.