***UPDATE 3.26 Mighty Fortress Church is celebrating Resurection Sunday. Learn more on Patch.com
Perhaps you’ve been avoiding worship services because you think that churches are too stuffy or too judgmental. Alternatively, maybe you feel that biblical lessons are confusing or hard to put into practice.
The team members at Mighty Fortress Church in Minneapolis understand these concerns, and their services will make you feel at ease and at home right away. In fact, one of the church’s mottoes is “come as you are.” It’s a place where everyone can feel safe and respected. Just as important, the sermons you’ll hear there will give you honest, relevant, and accessible morals.
Last chance! Retweet this image and use the hashtag #IAmMFI for a chance to win! pic.twitter.com/kKluTn35Sv
— Mighty Fortress Int. (@MightyFortress_) April 24, 2015
A Mighty Couple
Bishop Thomas R. Williams is the founder, president, and senior pastor of Mighty Fortress Church, and he’s been a minister for more than three decades. He earned his bachelor’s degree from North Central University and his master’s degree from Bethel University and Seminary. He’s also an alumnus of Rhema Bible Training College in Tulsa.
Bishop Williams’ wife is First Lady Sabrina R. Williams, and they have three children. First Lady Williams has been a minister for more than 40 years, longer than her husband. She has two bachelor’s degrees from Northwestern College in St. Paul as well as a master’s degree from the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis.
At Mighty Fortress Church, First Lady Williams is a preacher, a teacher, and a missionary. In the past, she’s also been a Sunday school instructor, choir director, evangelist, and youth program director.
For sure, First Lady Williams’ deep background in education has served her well at Mighty Fortress Church. At one time, she worked as a public elementary school teacher. Then, in 1999, she founded a school of her own: Excell Academy for Higher Learning, which is located in Brooklyn Park, Minn. This institution opened its doors in 2001. In the years since, Excell’s enrollment has grown seven times larger, and its staff members now provide exceptional instruction to students from kindergarten through the eighth grade.
The Mighty Fortress Experience
Bishop Williams explains that he is not an entertainer. As he puts it, he doesn’t do backflips or twirls to get people’s attention, and he doesn’t use props such as golden gloves to impress churchgoers. Rather, his ministry is completely focused on sharing the word of God.
Along the same lines, Bishop Williams never prays for wealth or to see his “name in lights.” Rather, his prayer is simply to be a man of God.
What’s more, Bishop Williams doesn’t give false promises to his church’s attendees or say what he thinks they want to hear for the sake of being popular. Instead, he reminds people that their faith is their own personal responsibility. As he says, God can provide you with the answers to your problems. However, if you don’t listen, the solutions can’t happen.
He also tells people that they must actively listen to what God is saying and make those messages a part of their faith. It’s a constant challenge to do so, though, because Satan always tries to chip away at people’s ability to interact with the Lord in order to take their faith away entirely.
As you may have surmised, there’s a real down-to-earth quality to Bishop Williams’ sermons. He believes that specific instructions from the Bible could be applied to our daily lives and that they could also alleviate major societal issues like poverty and racism.
Furthermore, Bishop Williams feels that Jesus’ teachings can ease tensions and bring people together in the spirit of charity and common cause. Indeed, he sees that kind of unity firsthand. His church is made up of various races, cultures, and age groups.
In addition, Bishop Williams often lets members of his church serve as witnesses. That way, they can tell the entire congregation their unique and powerful stories of being transformed by the Lord’s will.
In the end, it’s this combination of humility, forcefulness, love, and truth that has inspired and stirred so many residents of Minneapolis.
A New Mission for a Mighty Fortress
Bishop Thomas and First Lady Sabrina Williams have a compelling way of communicating with people and a dedicated flock. At the present time, however, they lack a church building of their own. As a result, Mighty Fortress Church conducts its services at Excell Academy.
Thus, one of the couple’s main goals is to build or obtain an edifice that their worshipers can call home. With a physical church, the ministry should be able to expand its reach well beyond North Minneapolis.
Wherever the Mighty Fortress community gathers, though, you can be certain that it will feel like a family. The church will continue to offer its empowering messages, and the members will continue to build their beautiful relationships with Jesus Christ and with one another.
