West End Assembly of God was started by a group of thirteen people who contacted the district office of Assemblies of God requesting to establish their own church. The Reverend H. Robert Roden, Sr. accepted the call and became the pastor of West End Assembly of God. The small congregation began meeting at the Executive Motor Inn. By 1972, the church’s first building had been constructed at Parham Road and Derbyshire Street. The congregation met there until 1981, when it decided to build a larger structure. West End Assembly of God moved to its present location on North Parham Road in 1984.
The Trinity Assembly of God describes its doctrinal beliefs through a variety of biblical passages: biblical truth, which comes from the book of Timothy 3:16-17, “Scripture is relevant and useful for teaching, rebuking correcting and training in righteousness“; the value of a relationship with God, which comes from the book of Deuteronomy 6:5, “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength“; the value of relationships with one another, which comes from Leviticus 19:18, “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am Lord“; the value of ethnic diversity, which comes from Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus“; the value of excellence, which comes from Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praise worthy- think about such things“; and the value of cultural relevance, which comes from the first book of Corinthians 9:20-23, “To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law, so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law, so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.”
The church holds two services every Sunday with a combined attendance of about two thousand worshipers. The church is mainly Caucasian middle to upper-middle class families, with a substantial number of single individuals. West End Assembly of God tries to make all services relevant to those attending, and so the service is very contemporary, with a praise and worship band, dramas, as well as members of the congregation feeling moved to express their feelings during services.
The West End Assembly of God states its mission in the following way: “We are committed to touching people for Christ through worship, prayer, teaching, missions, and fellowship.” Consistent with this mission, the West End Assembly of God is engaged in a variety of outreach activities: men’s ministries, women’s ministries, counseling and health care, as well as world-wide mission trips. The men’s and women’s ministries volunteer their help to many organizations throughout the community and the country. These groups participate in activities such as Habitat for Humanity, Feeding the 5,000, as well as other services. The mission trips taken are conducted for construction, renovation, evangelism, teaching, and even medical care projects.
West End Assembly of God
401 North Parham Road
Richmond, VA. 23229
(804)-740-7042
Sources:
West End Assembly of God Website: www.weag.org
Staff of West End Assembly of God
Profile prepared by Wallace Wayne Pitts, Jr.
May, 2007
