First Assembly of God Church

Here follows an excerpt from the church's website:

Our Story
Our church began at the home of Peter and Anne Duborg in 1917, when the Holy Spirit started a revival. Soon our group grew into a small congregation and a need for a building was immanent. God began to open new doors for our small congregation. In 1957, the church purchased the estate at 700 West Braddock Road in Alexandria, VA. On June 3, 1963 the congregation dedicated the land to the Lord, believing it to be a lighthouse on a hill. It was at this point that the church changed the name for the third time to First Assembly of God. Over the past 104 years, 9 properties and 3 name changes, history has proven that First Assembly’s congregation delights in hearing the voice of God.

First Assembly is affiliated with the national Assemblies of God organization headquartered in Springfield, Missouri. The church is a member of the Potomac District of the national organization. The senior pastor must hold credentials with the Potomac District of the Assemblies of God. From 1922 to 2002, there were four senior pastors of the church. In November of 1999 the previous senior pastor, Dr. Thomas Gulbronson, was severely injured in a fall. His injuries led to his resignation from the church in March of 2002. The church was without a senior pastor from then until December 2002. In December 2002, Rev. Wes Johnson, along with his family, moved to Alexandria, VA, and began their ministry at First Assembly of God in January 2003.

Pastor Wes Johnson, along with his wife, Stephanie, and their four children: Brooke, Siera, Chase, and Ashton moved to Alexandria, VA in January of 2002 to begin his ministry with First Assembly of God. During the year 2002, Pastor Wes felt that God was wanting and leading him to First Assembly. For the past 20+ years, Pastor Wes and Stephanie have ministered together.

Stephanie is a gifted teacher, mentor, speaker, wife and mother. She has a strong calling to the personal mentoring of leaders and has a great love of music. She is currently serving as the Music Director.

Pastor Wes was born and raised in Southern Virginia and recognized the call to ministry as a teenager. He graduated from Valley Forge Christian College in Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Science degree in Bible and Pastoral Studies. Pastor Wes’ foremost priority is his personal walk with God, to continue to grow and become more like Him, to be a true Disciple of Jesus Christ and an Apostolic Leader. Second priority is his family – a man could gain the whole world and lose his home. He believes that the Church should affirm this not only in his life, but also in the life of the Church. His third priority is the Church. He wants to help God mold the church into becoming a 21st Century New Testament Church, through the spiritual training of people, developing of their spiritual gifts, and releasing them to do the work of the Lord.

Prior to coming to First Assembly, Pastor Wes served as Senior Associate Pastor of Bethel Assembly of God in Hagerstown, Md., overseeing 6 Associate Pastors and all of the activities and ministries of the church. He has developed numerous ministries with the church and continues to successfully grow other ministries. Pastor Wes is highly gifted in the areas of Worship, Preaching and Leadership Development and has been very effective in developing ministries for Community Outreach, Missions, Children, Youth, Singles, Couples, and Senior Citizens. He is an ordained Minister with the Assemblies of God.

Pastor Wes and Stephanie have made a life-long commitment to First Assembly and God has given Pastor Wes a vision for ministry in our area. It will be exciting to see the way in which God brings that vision into reality! His desire is to lead people into ‘Knowing God | Showing People.’